RECLAMATION SUCCESS

Colorado Lien Company - Owl Canyon Quarry Complex

The Owl Canyon Quarry Complex, a chemical grade limestone deposit located one mile southeast of Livermore, is one of the oldest known operating mines in northern Colorado. It was awarded the 2001 Environmental Eagle Award from the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association for its outstanding environmental practices. Spanning five contiguous sections of land under three different mine permits, the Owl Canyon Quarry Complex is a complicated quarry situated on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Mining is done at elevations of over 6000 feet on a slope of seventeen degrees or more throughout the year, including the harsh winter months. Four distinct layers of alternating sandstone and limestone are extracted to maximize the mine life for the chemical grade limestone. After over eighty years of mining, nearly 200 acres have been affected.

In the early 1990’s the Colorado Lien Company team embarked on an aggressive effort to improve their impact on the environment. Pollution prevention and waste minimization were high on the company’s list of goals for the decade of 1990’s not only for the obvious benefits of improving their impact on the environment, but also because of the benefits of employee gratification and pride, relationship with the community and regulators, and healthier bottom lines.

When reassessment of bonding became a primary focus for the Colorado Mined Land Division after abandonment by a few large mining operations in Colorado, the staff made CLC one of its first operations to review in 1997, knowing the company’s history for cooperation with the State and willingness to accept self-improvement ideas particularly in the environmental and community relations areas. The staff of MLD along with the State Fish and Parks suggested CLC consider a more diversified landscape in their post-reclamation plan, than that of the approved grazing land with standard slopes and vegetation.

To accommodate both the grazing interests as well as the wildlife interests, CLC spent nearly two years designing a plan that would be acceptable to all interests. The end result was an unusual plan approved by the State, which requires a variety of landscaped slopes, some mining highwall faces intact to attract rock dwelling animals and rapture habitats and to resemble the existing hogback formations in that area, and small canyons or steep sided gullies with rock walls and talus slopes.

Some areas will have topsoil for native grasses and vegetation whereas other areas will have little if no topsoil to encourage those vegetations that grow naturally in the area such as pinon pines and mountain mahogany that don’t germinate in topsoil. Above and beyond what the reclamation plan requires, employees have planted over 300 tree seedlings over the past few years on the reclaimed areas where amended topsoil, such as beet dirt and manure, were placed. The beet dirt has provided the richest, fastest growing areas for vegetation to date.