Colorado air quality regulators are moving to tighten oversight of small sources of air pollution, which critics contend have gotten a free pass under the previous policies of the state Air Pollution Control Division. Those policies were the target of a federal whistleblower complaint by division employees and an investigation by the state’s Attorney General’s […]
Newmont Corp.
Posted inClimate, Environment, News
Colorado air pollution director Garry Kaufman reassigned after conflict of interest investigation
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has reassigned its top air pollution control official to a newly-created job in the wake of a special investigator’s probe confirming his failure to report a potential conflict of interest. Garry Kaufman, who has led the Air Pollution Control Division since 2017 and previously worked on air […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News
Whistleblowers raised valid concerns about Colorado air pollution monitoring, probe finds, but problems were unintentional
Whistleblowers attacking the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division for conflicts of interest and improper modeling of potential pollution sources raised valid concerns in complaints to the EPA Inspector General, but the state’s violations were not intentional and officials did not falsify data, according to a new report by the state Attorney General’s Office. The report […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Environment, Health, News, Outdoors
EPA plan to truck toxic mine waste through Telluride isn’t sitting well with locals
The last remnant of Telluride’s messy mining legacy is causing headaches. Last fall, the U.S. Forest Service called the Environmental Protection Agency to consult on moving 34 acres of mining tailings located on public land on the town’s beloved Valley Floor. Soil tested near a popular hiking trail along the San Miguel River detected lead […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, Health, News
Former mining company attorney regularly granted a past client exemptions as Colorado’s head of air pollution control, records show
The director of the state’s Air Pollution Control Division repeatedly signed off on exemptions to pollution limits for the world’s largest gold miner, Newmont Corp. — a company that he previously represented as an attorney in private practice, according to state records. Air Pollution Control Division Director Garry Kaufman approved the exemptions for Newmont’s Cripple […]