WE DEFEATED THE GRAVEL PIT!

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Thank you to everyone who participated in any way with Friends of Clear Creek in opposing the gravel pit - The Douglas Mountain Ranch Mining Project.

Click here to read the withdrawal letter that was submitted to the Division of Mining, Reclamation, and Safety from Empire Aggregates on October 24th, 2019. They have withdrawn their application and will no longer be pursuing a gravel pit at that location!

Click here to read an article in the Clear Creek Courant announcing the withdrawal on October 31st, 2019.

Below you can follow our historic journey as we gathered support to preserve the plateau and oppose the gravel pit.

Channel 7, ABC, aired an interview with Friends of Clear Creek & Easter Seals Rocky Mountain Village regarding the proposed Douglas Mountain Mine project on Wednesday, March 27th, at 10 pm. Big thank you to Liz Gelardi from Denver 7 News for coming to Empire for the interview. Click here to watch!

General Project Description from the Permit Application

The Douglas Mountain Ranch Mine will be a sand and gravel pit over roughly 75 acres of 150 acres covered in the pending Planned Development Application. This pit will operate over the course of roughly 20 years, with all mining and reclamation anticipated to be complete within 25 years. The entire pit area will be reclaimed back to dryland pasture for the landowners to then use as they see fit.

Mining of the pit will take place from the east to the west, with 90% of the operation being hidden from Empire and the surrounding land. All truck traffic will haul out via the Westbound I-70 ramp towards the highway. The vast majority of the truck traffic is anticipated to head to the Denver Metro area due to the high demand for the material on the Front Range. Equipment onsite will consist of digging equipment, trucks, and plants. No water discharges into the West Fork of Clear Creek will take place.