It’s Neighbor Vs. Neighbor as Residents Feel Threatened to Speak Out

PARADOX VALLEY – For the 300 or so residents who reside in the sleepy farming/ranching community of the Paradox Valley, everyday concerns in the past have typically included irrigating crops, winter food storage and deciding where to go – Moab or Grand Junction – for major food shopping. Now, in the shadow of a proposal to build a uranium mill in the middle of the valley, there are new concerns for Paradox’s future, pitting neighbor against neighbor.

Set in remote Montrose County, the Paradox Valley is a hidden geologic landscape that takes the shape of a gigantic stadium with sheer colorfully layered walls surrounding a lush and green agricultural landscape. The high peaks of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains tower over the valley to the east, while Utah’s La Sal Mountains provide a scenic backdrop to the west. The valley is separated by the Dolores River, which sprung to life this past spring thanks to last winter’s above-average snowpack. Running across the valley instead of paralleling it, the river is the paradoxical source of the valley’s name.

Buried beneath the valley’s unique scenery is the Uravan Mineral Belt – a formation that contains one of the country’s largest concentrations of high-grade uranium and vanadium. While the U.S. continues to search for alternatives to carbon-based energy and takes a new look at nuclear power, the Paradox Valley may become ground zero for the country’s radioactive needs in exploration, mining and ore processing.

As the Canadian company Energy Fuels Inc. – led by CEO George Glasier – pursues an application for a uranium mill, which could be built approximately 15 miles east of Paradox and just 11 miles east of Bedrock, the sleepy community of Paradox has become sharply divided. Some residents feel threatened, bullied and without a voice.

“Nobody who is against the mill feels like they can talk about it,” said one Paradox resident who asked not to be identified “This is such a peaceful community. We all know each other, we all help each other, but this mill is dividing us.”

The same may be true for those who wish to speak out in favor of the mill as well. The tensions erupted on the evening of July 31, when the community was invited to a “Pro-Energy Review,” at the Paradox Community Center, which was touted by a flyer posted at the Paradox Post Office as a “meeting for those who really care about Paradox residents and our way of life.”

Those who attended soon found out that the meeting was actually a private meeting for those who are in favor of the mill. The people who attended were informed that if they wished to speak out against the mill, they would be removed from the meeting by Montrose County sheriff’s deputies. The rules of the meeting were simply stated according to a white marker board at the entrance of the meeting:

“Rule #1 – There has been meetings for those that oppose Piñon Ridge Mill and Uranium Mining etc…These people and their beliefs will not be participants of this private gathering.

“Rule #2 – This is and will not be a debate!

“Rule #3 – Law enforcement will be called for breaking these rules.”

Another Paradox resident, who also wished to remain anonymous (called “Sarah” for the purpose of this story), attended the meeting and was shocked by the meeting’s focus.

“The flyer was misleading,” she said. “The notice said it was going to be a discussion but it was a one-sided discussion.” Sarah is decidedly against the mill but said she wanted to hear other people’s views. “I wanted to hear other people’s opinions to get an impression of what people are thinking about the mill. The meeting wasn’t at all what I was expected and it was very disappointing and insulting.”

The meeting was held by Jack Lee, a man who wears many hats in the valley and is admired by seemingly everyone in the community (the fire department building is even named after him). Lee is the Paradox fire marshal, deputy coroner and is a member of the newly formed West End Planning Advisory Committee, which will make recommendations to the Montrose County Planning Commission on West End planning matters, including the proposed mill.

“There are a lot of people who have come to me for things over the years,” Lee said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “I was just asked by a group of people to listen to their views,” he said of the July 31 pro-mill meeting. “I can tell you law enforcement was there because I had a meeting with them on another subject afterwards and they stopped by.”

Lee went on to say that there had been several previous anti-mill meetings and that this meeting was held “for those to talk that couldn’t really feel like they could voice their opinion amongst those who didn’t want the mill.”

A recording of the July 31, pro-mill meeting was made available to The Watch. Close to 35 people attended the meeting in which only pro mill viewpoints would be heard. Many of those who spoke at the meeting see the uranium mill as an opportunity to those who live in Paradox.

‘People Die Every Day’

“I am definitely for the mill,” one attendee of the meeting said. “I am really excited about it. What a chance it is for our community to have an opportunity like this. Energy Fuels is coming here with big bucks and they are risking big bucks to do it.”

“People die every day of cancer and everything else,” another attendee said. “They never smoked, they weren’t around uranium and they ate good foods. My granddad died early. The mill is going to be very responsible.”

“I question those people, what they want to save Paradox from,” said another resident at the meeting. “If they don’t like it they have the option to leave. I don’t like hearing in different articles about how Paradox is suffering and people are banding together to save it from the mill. Some of us are banding together to save our jobs and I am for the mill.”

West End Planning Advisory Committee members Liz Steele, Martha Warner and Bob Hampton were also present at the meeting, explaining they were there to educate themselves about how Paradox residents felt about the issue. (The Montrose County attorney did not return phone calls or emails to clarify whether the attendance of the county appointees at a private meeting was a violation of the Colorado Open Meetings Law or whether the police presence was proper.)

After a number of people spoke at the meeting, with Lee reminding those in attendance of the meeting’s rules and “if these rules aren’t done I will stop the meeting immediately and you will be going out the door,” he asked for a count of those in attendance who are in favor of the mill and those who are opposed. According to the recording, 25 people raised their hans in favor of the mill and approximately four raised their hands against it. There is no way to determine how many people may have been undecided or felt uncomfortable raising their hands.

When interviewed, Lee said he hopes that those who want to speak their mind about the uranium mill will avoid from private meetings so everyone’s voice can be heard.

“I know a lot of people got to talking after the meeting,” Lee said. “‘Jack did this’ and ‘Jack did that.’ At first, the individual meetings didn’t bother me. Now I would really hope that everyone can get together and talk about the mill in a good fashion. I know they can all talk together and express their feelings and live in harmony, and I am hoping for that.”

Besides not being able to speak about her concerns, Sarah said she was really disappointed in the way people treated each other in a community of people that know and like each other so well.

“I guess I was hurt,” she said. “I was hurt by the way people treated each other. A lot of these people are very close friends with my family. Jack is supposed to be open-minded and he was not open-minded. What inspired him to bring sheriff’s deputies to arrest people for expressing an opinion?”

As the nation’s energy spotlight moves onto the rural community, Lee is suggesting that Paradox residents need to express their beliefs. “I think they ought to follow their passion,” Lee said, “which ever way it goes. If they want to be heard by the rest of the world through media, they should do that. As far as dividing the community, I hope it doesn’t happen. The people mean more to me than the mill or mining.”

Energy Fuels Inc. is applying for a special use permit from Montrose County, but other approvals for the mill will be needed from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.