Posted by Timothy Tonge on January 29, 2008 at 1:05 PM
Email I received inquiring as to delay as well as expressing my concern on length of delay, sounds like a while yet before they open.
Thank you for your interest in the Refuge. Currently we are closed to public visitation to accommodate an intrusive remediation project that is underway that involves monitoring for chemical agent. Our number one priority is always public safety. Although the project area is small in terms of the overall size of the Refuge, we had long ago made a committment to the three regulatory agencies overseeing the cleanup (the Environmental Protection Agency, Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, and Tri-County Health Department) to suspend visitation when agent monitoring occurred during remediation projects in the best interest of public safety. While the risk of chemical or odor exposure to the public is virtually non-existent from this project, we always take a very conservative approach and take public perception into consideration. There have been several other remedy-related projects over the course of the past several years that have required public visitation to be suspended for various lengths of time. The good news is that this is the last remedy project that could potentially cause suspension of public visitation, so we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Once the project is competed, there will not be any more intrusive remedy work. The remainder of the remedy will all be clean backfill and working on caps and covers and will not affect the Refuge being open. We hope to re-open sometime late spring '08. Please continue to check our website for the re-opening date. When we open again, we will already be into our catch-and-release fishing season and plan to have new programs available. We appreciate your patience and encourage you to make visiting the Refuge part of your plans this year. If you need any further information, please contact me. Thank you.
Discussion
0 repliesThank you for your interest in the Refuge. Currently we are closed to public visitation to accommodate an intrusive remediation project that is underway that involves monitoring for chemical agent. Our number one priority is always public safety. Although the project area is small in terms of the overall size of the Refuge, we had long ago made a committment to the three regulatory agencies overseeing the cleanup (the Environmental Protection Agency, Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, and Tri-County Health Department) to suspend visitation when agent monitoring occurred during remediation projects in the best interest of public safety. While the risk of chemical or odor exposure to the public is virtually non-existent from this project, we always take a very conservative approach and take public perception into consideration. There have been several other remedy-related projects over the course of the past several years that have required public visitation to be suspended for various lengths of time. The good news is that this is the last remedy project that could potentially cause suspension of public visitation, so we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Once the project is competed, there will not be any more intrusive remedy work. The remainder of the remedy will all be clean backfill and working on caps and covers and will not affect the Refuge being open. We hope to re-open sometime late spring '08. Please continue to check our website for the re-opening date. When we open again, we will already be into our catch-and-release fishing season and plan to have new programs available. We appreciate your patience and encourage you to make visiting the Refuge part of your plans this year. If you need any further information, please contact me. Thank you.