ONE LANE OF McCLURE PASS OPENED AS ROCKFALL CLEANUP CONTINUES
PAONIA — Colorado transportation officials have opened one lane of Colorado Highway 133 to alternating traffic near Paonia Reservoir, as workers finish cleaning up a rockslide. The highway was closed south of McClure Pass on Sunday after the slide left at least one rock the size of dump truck on the road, along with a large crater and several more rocks. C-DOT says although one lane of traffic has reopened, drivers could encounter delays of up to two hours Wednesday and Thursday during drilling, blasting and rock hauling work. The department is hoping to fully open the roadway sometime Friday. The other option for traveling between Paonia and the Roaring Fork Valley is a 140-mile detour.
ANTERO FINED BY STATE FOR LEAK NEAR RIFLE
Rifle—The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commision has imposed a $150,000 fine against Antero Resources, for a leaky pipeline that carried oily water from oil wells and led to the contamination of groundwater and soil near Rifle. The fine is part of a consent agreement reached with Antero. The commission says Antero violated rules on pollution and management of waste in the incident, which was discovered in 2010.
The leak led to a paraffin-like substance seeping into a gravel pit and high levels of benzene in the groundwater. Last year Antero sold all of its natural gas and pipeline assets in the Piceance Basin to Ursa Resources to focus on drilling elsewhere.
DEMOCRAT-DOMINATED 2013 LEGISLATIVE SESSION COMING TO A CLOSE
DENVER (AP) – Colorado lawmakers are closing the 2013 session Wednesday with the most contentious issues behind them. It’s already been a fast-paced 120 days that saw an unusually heavy load of substantial legislation. Democrats in control of the Legislature have already passed the strictest gun laws in Colorado’s history, including limits on the size of ammunition magazines and universal background checks. They’ve also approved same-sex civil unions and decreased tuition for immigrants in the country illegally who graduate from Colorado high schools. In a normal year, those bills would’ve been enough to mark a landmark legislative session for Democrats. But they’ve exerted their power to also pass an overhaul of elections law, including same-day voter registration. Marijuana taxes and regulation were the meatiest items awaiting final action Wednesday.
