Black Range Minerals, an Australian company, will appear before the Fremont County Commissioners on Tuesday for a formal public hearing. The company has applied for a Conditional Use Permit to drill an estimated 800 holes across 8,169 acres on the Taylor and Boyer ranches in the Tallahassee area. Tuesday's hearing will encompass only the exploratory phase of the project. If the CUP is approved and the exploration eventually proves the area to be economically viable for a uranium mine, the company would later submit to a separate permit process to mine. The limitations of the public hearing frustrated many in the crowd, including Jim Hawklee, president of the Tallahassee Area Committee, Inc. The neighborhood corporation formed explicitly to fight the exploration activity...
"This will affect you in Guffey," he said. "We have common aquifers that we share. Any contamination could spread. We're asking everyone who can to come down and let them know how you feel about uranium exploration." The vocal crowd left no doubt it was unanimous in its opposition to any type of uranium activity...
Hawklee said the key to protecting and preserving the quality of life in the Tallahassee area was to convince the commissioners to deny the exploration permit. "The more political pressure we can put on them, the better," Hawklee said. "We're pretty concerned. It does not look good for us." Several Guffey residents expressed concern their opinions would not be considered because they are not Fremont County residents. The town is situated in Park County, a few miles away from Tallahassee. "Our shared aquifer should give you the right to say something," Hawklee said. "This is not a one-county operation. This could cross county lines." Minton said the community needed to band together to fight the proposal...
The official public hearing will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the lower level of the County Administration Building, 615 Macon Ave. Like all public hearings, the commissioners may make a formal decision following the discussion, or they could postpone judgment until a later date.
