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Over The Rainbow Spring Extravaganza

 Over The Rainbow Preschool will be holding their Spring Extravaganza on May 22 , starting at 6:30 pm. There will be a performance by the children and a  Pre-K graduation. The children have been practicing for 2 months to present their performance. Watch for our story on the event in Thursday’s paper!!

The Wide Angle PDF Print E-mail
Thursday, 10 July 2008 01:40

On Bud, Jane and The Ned Gazette

by Marcelo Games
Mid-Gilpin County

“Well hell and damnation, Jane! What dya mean, “CHEMISTRY?”
- Bud


It happened one night…or actually one long, mind-blowing 65 hour night-morning-day-night-again-morning-noon someone brought dinner once or twice the coffee never ended with those five-hour stay awake power chasers our eyes nearly dropped from their sockets by the time we made that first missed printer deadline…  The Ned Gazette was born kicking and screaming and banging the walls of Marti’s house as she, Burt and I tried our best to manage a smooth, dignified, classy delivery.  Smooth as a mountain road after the snowmelt.  Dignified as a November gale against the cheeks, up the nose, in the ears, eyes and deep, deep into the skin.  Classy as…well, I have to admit we didn’t do so bad on that one.  Classy as a  Marti LaJoie sunshine smile any day of the week and a Burt Rashbaum chuckle at the sheer, never-aging beauty of the simplest observation.   And that’s not even mentioning Bud and Jane, our fictional scapegoat couple who came about in the midst of the initial madness, when the computer quit and the modem died and Burt had to run down to Boulder at 2am for some articles and the three of us were sprouting horns in our foreheads and little, forked tails had begun to poke curiously from behind us, and Baby (Marti’s dog) and the cats just sat there, patiently, feeling sorry for us as we feverishly challenged the limits of our brains and bodies in the interest of successfully giving birth to our little dream.  Bud and Jane just showed up out of nowhere and occupied the room with us.  They bickered, made up, fell in and out of love right before our eyes and, for some inexplicable reason, just kept reeking havoc on our progress.  When a thing went wrong, it was Bud and Jane’s fault.  They weren’t paying attention.  They got careless.  They distracted us with their constant bickering and ghostly floating through the electric cables, phone lines and up and down the non-existent stairway in the closet to the non-existent basement where all the things we’d lost or stood to lose seemed to be stored well out of transcendental reach.  By the time we finally did finish that first issue, Bud and Jane had spent so many hours in our collective imagination that – while they’d helped us get through the long ordeal, sanity more or less intact – they’d had enough of us and, reunited, ran off to Seattle leaving us to fend for ourselves.  They never turned back, but remained with us always in spirit, with a marked yet comical vengeance.

Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 July 2008 02:02 )
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Captain Jack Superfund Site PDF Print E-mail
Saturday, 05 July 2008 05:33

Captain Jack Mill Superfund Site Will Get a Makeover

Karelle Scharff
Ward, CO

 At a well-attended meeting in Ward on the evening of July 2, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the EPA and Walsh Environmental presented their preferred alternative for the cleanup of the Captain Jack Mill Superfund site. Present were local Ward residents, representatives from the Left Hand Watershed Task Force, Left Hand Watershed Oversight Group (LWOG), Left Hand Water District, Boulder Historical Society, and from the Town of Ward.

Captain Jack Mill Superfund SiteThe Captain Jack Superfund site encompasses several old mining and milling properties, including the Big Five, the White Raven, and the Captain Jack, all about a mile south of the town of Ward, west of Left Hand Canyon Road.  The mines associated with the site were originally developed in the late 1800’s and included the Big Five tunnel which was dug into the mountain nearly a mile. Although the original mines and mills closed down in the first part of the 20th century, they were reopened in the 70s and the Captain Jack Mill processed ore from the early 80s to the mid-90s. Predictably 100 years of mining activity has left a heavy legacy of acid and metals pollution in the soil and water. In the early 80s when the Mill reopened, the EPA discovered fisheries and wetlands impacts in the Left Hand Creek watershed that they suspected were associated with the discharges of metal contaminated water from the surrounding abandoned mining and milling areas including the Captain Jack Mill site. In 2003 the Captain Jack Mill site was listed on the national priorities list of the EPA. Between 2004 and 2008 a remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) was conducted to identify the types, quantities and locations of contaminants and evaluated ways to address these problems.

The RI/FS presented at the meeting on Wednesday night identified eight “contaminants of concern” present in the soil, waste rock, tailings, surface water and mine impacted groundwater that pose a risk to human health and the environment at this site: antimony, arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, manganese, thallium, and zinc. Three of these – arsenic, lead and thallium – present significant human health risks, while the other five present risks primarily to fish and other aquatic life. Both sets of risks were considered unacceptable.

The plan proposed by the EPA intends “to prevent current and future exposure to contaminated soil, water and groundwater through a combination of treatment containment. The remedial response actions described in this proposed plan will permanently control and reduce the toxicity, mobility and volume of those source materials that pose a risk at the site.”

The two agencies presented eight alternatives, the first being no action at all which it does not consider an alternative as it doesn’t meet any of the criteria the EPA sets up to determine the effectiveness of a solution. For the three alternatives evaluated to remediate surface contamination they chose the alternative known as “2B: ON SITE CONSOLIDATION AND CAPPED CELL FOR PRINCIPAL THREAT WASTE WITH THE REMAINDER CAP-IN-PLACE.” In this scenario the “principle threat waste” is excavated and placed in an on-site consolidation cell instead of being removed to an off-site disposal facility. The consolidation cell would be capped with 6 inches of topsoil on top of 12 inches of fill on top of a geo-synthetic clay liner. Before the clay liner is installed, a caustic material would be mixed into the top 6 inches of the waste material in order to neutralize it to minimize acidic leaching. EPA estimates the cost of this alternative to be around $1.3 million. They anticipate it could take 8 to 10 years to be fully operational.

Of the four alternatives evaluated to deal with the acidic, metals-laden water leaking from the mine, alternative 3B: BIG FIVE ADIT BULKHEAD AND MINE POOL MITIGATION WITH PHASED SUCCESSIVE BIOCHEMICAL REACTOR TREATMENT AS REQUIRED, was chosen. This alternative installs a concrete plug – a bulkhead, approximately 10 feet thick, with pressure gauge and flow-through valve – approximately 470-675 feet from the portal of the tunnel. The idea is to create a pool of water behind the bulkhead that would both reduce oxygen available to the chemical processes that make the runoff acidic and contain the runoff itself. To further neutralize the acidic mine pools, injection wells will insert and circulate caustic chemicals to the water to raise its pH. Since alkaline water doesn’t readily hold metals in solution they will settle out into a sludge behind the bulkhead in the mine tunnel.

During this neutralization process the water quality of Left Hand Creek will be monitored. If the cleanup objectives are not being met, the second phase of this alternative will be evaluated and implemented. This phase involves installing a series of vessels called biochemical reactors. The reactors use microorganisms to transform hazardous contaminants into nonhazardous substances. After the biochemical reactor treatment, water would flow through on-site wetlands for a “polishing treatment” before draining to Left Hand Creek.

The EPA and CDPHE regard this alternative as the most flexible, and project its cost to be between $4 and $10 million, depending on whether the second phase is necessary.

There were numerous questions from the assembly, some regarding historical buildings on the site, some regarding the effect of these operations on wildlife downstream, some about the operations and maintenance commitment of the EPA. But the most discussion was about damming the water in that tunnel. There was a great deal of concern expressed about possible seepage and the tendency of water to take the path of least resistance. The EPA representative reassured the audience that they would closely monitor the surrounding area for possible leaks.

More information is available from Mr. Angus Campbell, CDPHE, Hazardous Materials Waste Management Division, (303) 692-3385, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For more information:
http://www.lwog.org
www.cdphe.state.co.us/hm/captjack/index.htm
http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/co/captainjack/

Last Updated ( Saturday, 05 July 2008 17:03 )
 
Nederland Water Issues PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Thursday, 26 June 2008 15:43

Emergency! Emergency! Please Take Note!!!!

Nederland is having water issues and all water must be shut down. The information anyone would need is on the town website and should be accessed for any information you might need. Please do not use your toilets or washers or showers. The town is having problems at the site near the high school and a leak has been found.

The Town will update their website at all times to keep everyone notified and there will be port-a-potties at the Information Center.

Thanks for your help in this matter.

Here is the message from Town Hall:

Hello,

The Town of Nederland has a major leak in the main drinking water holding tank. Public works is working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible but in the meantime we are losing about 80,000 gallons of water per day. The area leaking is the main tank above the high school and serves the entire distribution system. We need residents to conserve as much as possible because we may run out of water. I will update the website homepage message when this is resolved but this could take a couple days.

Please share this information with other residents and thank you for your help! Please conserve as much as possible!

--
Christi Icenogle
Town Clerk
Nederland, CO
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
303-258-3266 ext 23

 

Last Updated ( Thursday, 26 June 2008 16:12 )
 
Yard Sale PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Thursday, 26 June 2008 12:20

A Yard Sale

by Marti LaJoie

It is very apparent that I am moving to Oklahoma. The Ned Gazette is continuing with the guidance of a great crew. I still hope to contribute, now that we are online. It's pretty cool that I will be able to write and work and stay in touch in this way.

My brother had an accident and can no longer be the major care giver to my parents. I am going with tears and Joy. In an instant, I am amazed at how important it has become to be able to be with my parents. Destiny seems to have a different plan for me then I had for myself.

So I am having a yard sale. It will be Saturday and Sunday, the 28th and 29th of June, at 50 West 3rd Street in Nederland. It will be going from 9 am to 4pm both days. There will be many items that can be useful to those living up here at altitude, as I have been here, in Nederland, for 15 years. I spent 12 years of my life in Ward. Come and check it out, there may just be that thing that you were looking for and didn't know it!

My roots are deep here and I will be missing the love of living at altitude. I am basically a liberal and I am going into the world of conservatism. I have no "real" problem with this, as I feel firm in who I am and what my belief systems are. But I am aware that I am not like the people I will be around, so i guess what I am trying to say is that I will miss being here with the people I have grown to love so much.

My family is a great deal more conservative then I am, so finding politics, religion, philosophies.....oh yeah, and sex, at the core of our conversations will be a challenge to us all. I smile as I write this because my Dad and I already do not agree on the elections. We will probably have some intense conversations, to say the least. I think he likes the squabble as much as I do.

Changing our lives to be with aging parents comes at this time in life, for many of us. I feel lucky to be able to do it, yet, sad at what I have to leave. The most beautiful time of year in Nederland is now. The birds singing in the early morning, the sunrises and sunsets that are so outstanding and the cookout dinners and darts at my friends house, all things I will be missing.

I am sure I will make new friends and will be able to reconnect with old friends, like my friend Joe Rameriz. Joe is a childhood friend from Guymon, OK. He has been here for visits during Nederland's great 4th of July. Some of those roots go very deep, too. I am sure I will find my way on this new adventure. But more importantly, I WILL BE BACK! That is a promise I make to myself.

Come on over to my yard sale and give me a "hug for now".........Thanks everyone!!

Last Updated ( Thursday, 26 June 2008 16:11 )
 
PDF Print E-mail
Tuesday, 17 June 2008 12:06

Joe Colton’s Off Road Adventure Run

Great Fun for Hundreds

by Burt Rashbaum
Nederland

The cars started lining up early just outside of Rollinsville on Saturday. Marti LaJoie and George Blevins were already keeping the traffic flowing, and directing eager runners to the registration tables. George Blevins and Marti LaJoie kept things flowing

Dave kept the water cups filled Preparations were underway for the 8th annual Joe Colton Off Road Adventure Run. The race, which has obviously become a favorite for runners from altitude and from down below, was created by Lori Kinczel, in memory and honor of Joe Colton, a local youngster who died of the flu just over 8 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Fix It's Chris Perret was one of the emcees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Lori Kinczel explains the origins of the race.

Just before the race started, Kinczel told the crowd of the creation of the race, and said that Joe’s spirit must be present every year because the weather is always so spectacular.


And they're off!

 

The hundreds waiting to take off couldn’t have agreed more. And afterwards there was fruit, snacks, water, bagels, marimba band music, and massage.

What better way to start the weekend?

 

 

Eric Davidson of Westminster was the first man to the finish line.

 

 

Laura of Boulder was the first woman across the finish line.

 

 

And the marimba band mellowed everyone out afterwards!

Last Updated ( Thursday, 19 June 2008 11:15 )
 
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