Suncor hit with another round of pollution violations

Good morning, Colorado.

I’m taking a big sigh of relief now that July Fourth is over because I was getting really tired of frantically searching for my sheepdog, Kevin, only to find him hiding in my bathtub. Even though fireworks were banned in Colorado Springs for personal use, that didn’t stop some of my neighbors from using them for days on end before the holiday. Poor pup.

If you’ve also got a sensitive dog, or just enjoy the peace and quiet, let’s celebrate by jumping into this morning’s news, shall we?

P.S. — And speaking of wildfire risk, tonight at 6 p.m. we are broadcasting a panel discussion about how more frequent fires, floods and hail are costing Colordans billions in higher insurance rates. Environment reporter Michael Booth will chat with leaders from insurance companies about what to expect and what we can do about rising rates. Click here to RSVP.

Olivia Prentzel

Reporter

THE NEWS

ENVIRONMENT

Suncor again accused of violating multiple pollution laws despite record fines for past leaks, EPA and state say

State regulators and the EPA hit Suncor on Monday with yet another round of pollution violation notices for the past two years, despite a $10.5 million settlement for similar 2021 violations that state officials vowed would set the Commerce City refinery on a path to cleaner operations. The newest violations are sure to restart criticism from neighbors and environmental groups who say small fines haven’t been effective in altering the course of Suncor’s multibillion dollar business. Michael Booth has more.

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• Researchers are surveilling land, air and space to hunt down one Colorado county’s toxic ozone producers. NASA, NOAA and state researchers will team up with scouts on the ground, in the air, and from space, to look for the biggest pollution sources and plan the next attacks. 

EDUCATION

It’s taken 150 years, but Colorado’s deaf school finally has a superintendent who is deaf

In the 150-year history of the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, which opened with just seven students in 1874, Tera Spangler is the first superintendent who is deaf. In Spangler’s hometown of about 400 people, she was the only deaf child and she didn’t learn sign language until college. She studied her textbooks in advance to try to keep up in class, but she nearly always fell behind. Now, she feels proud, she told reporter Jennifer Brown, to be leading a school community she never had, a place where students can connect and communicate, don’t feel like they are different from their peers, and don’t have to struggle to keep up.

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OUTDOORS

Despite 70% opt-out rate, Keep Colorado Wild Passes program delivers more revenue than forecast

More than 1.5 million Colorado vehicle owners have brought more than $40 million to Colorado Parks and Wildlife by including a $29 Keep Colorado Wild Pass as part of their annual registrations. The pass plan that launched in January 2023 adds $29 to every vehicle registration in the state, providing access to all state parks, unless owners opt out. That money is going to boost funds for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, backcountry search and rescue volunteers and avalanche forecasters, Jason Blevins reports.

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AGRICULTURE

Nearly 1.8 million chickens will be culled in the latest bird flu outbreak at a Colorado poultry farm

Nearly 1.8 million chickens will be killed after bird flu was detected at an egg-laying operation in Weld County. Gov. Jared Polis made a disaster declaration for the facility over the long holiday weekend. The move activates the state’s emergency operations plan and makes more resources available to respond to the outbreak, John Ingold reports. The mass culling (or depopulation as the state described it) is the second-largest in a commercial flock since bird flu was first detected in Colorado in early 2002.

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HEALTH

Colorado dropped people from Medicaid at a rate comparable to red states, alarming advocates for the poor

Colorado stands out among 10 states that have disenrolled the highest share of Medicaid beneficiaries since the U.S. government lifted a pandemic-era restriction on removing people from the health insurance program. State officials defended the numbers, saying what goes up, must come down. But advocates for health care access and researchers disagreed, saying that the major issues involve outdated technology and low rates of automatic renewals. Rae Ellen Bichell has more.

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MORE NEWS

• Faith Winter violated Colorado Senate ethics policy by appearing to be intoxicated at community meeting, panel rules. The Colorado Senate Committee on Ethics voted 4-1 to find that Winter, the chamber’s assistant majority leader, failed to meet the Senate’s standards requiring that she promote public integrity and public confidence. Jesse Paul has more. 

Section by Olivia Prentzel | Reporter

THE COLORADO REPORT

• A beloved Colorado mountain pond has been reduced to mud. Is a luxury developer at fault? The extremely photogenic Barn Pond near Twin Lakes has been “a quiet thinking and fishing spot” for locals and a prominent part of the way the mountain community markets itself to the world. But the developer behind the AngelView at Twin Lakes property claims the channel that fed the pond was an illegal ditch with no water rights, so he blocked it to increase flows to the development.
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• Aurora neighbors look for food access solutions following Walmart closure. The closure of the Walmart Neighborhood Market leaves a 5- to 6-mile radius of homes where there is not a full-service grocery store.
  — 9News
• Fuels reduction work helped protect Breckenridge neighborhood from human-caused wildfire disaster. A small wildfire broke out on a ridgeline in the town’s Wellington neighborhood, getting within an eighth of a mile of a home. But officials say that the fire did not grow thanks to the work on a fuel break 18 months earlier.
  — Summit Daily
• Federal regulators shut down trucking company involved in deadly U.S. 285 crash in Jefferson County. Monique Trucking was declared “egregiously noncompliant” by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration during an investigation into the crash that killed 64-year-old Scott Miller on his way home from the grocery store last month.
  — Denver7

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

SunLit

“The Last Story” paints a portrait of a Las Vegas reporter not easily intimidated

The 2022 murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, allegedly at the hands of a government official whose political career German’s stories ended, brought a violent end to four decades of the reporter’s fearless accountability journalism. Author Arthur Kane, a former Denver print and TV reporter, recounts the career of his former colleague, including this excerpt detailing attempts at intimidation.

READ AN EXCERPT

• Interview with the author. Kane explains the difficulty in researching his book in a case that hasn’t yet gone to trial, but he also notes that his reporting on German’s past helped him understand the rampant corruption that plagued Las Vegas.  

Section by Kevin Simpson | Writer

That’s all for today. Thanks for joining us and we hope to see you here tomorrow!

— Olivia & the whole staff of The Sun

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