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<DIV><FONT size=4>Phil, et al,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Perhaps we are in agreement about some aspects of clay
mining.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>If getting locally produced clay would help potters and
others, that would be a plus, not to mention the jobs that the clay mining and
processing could create and sustain.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The question of mining or any other activity with
<STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000 size=5>possible </FONT></STRONG>high adverse impacts
is the location and control of that activity.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The questions are the same as with other zoning
proposals: Where, how, when, who, etc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Just as it would be foolish to maintain that all mining
activities are devastating and undesirable, it would be equally foolish to
maintain that all are. The facts of each proposal need to be made very
public, discussed, reworked, etc to determine if a viable plan with minimal
impacts to other people and other resources can be designed.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The "who" is also important for two reasons:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>[1] News readers and various activists know that those
running certain mining operations often ignore the laws and permit conditions
applicable to their operations. Some mining proposers have been patently
dishonest about their probable impacts. Hence, in evaluating proposals it
is important to look at the record and past performances of those making the
proposals. Perhaps the requirement of bonding is one of several options to
attempt to minimize abuses -- the amount and conditions of the bond being
related to past performances of the proposer.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>[2] The Latah County Planning and Zoning function is
notorious now and in the past for ignoring zoning and permit violations.
The present comp plan and zoning regulations need to be modified to allow the
relevant conditions placed on mining permits and to emphasize the importance of
enforcement. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>So, are we in agreement with the following
statement?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Mining should not be prohibited in Latah County, but it should
be allowed with enforced and carefully designed conditions to reasonably
protect those impacted by such activity.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><BR>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<BR><A
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">deco@moscow.com</A><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4>From: "Phil Nisbet" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:pcnisbet1@hotmail.com"><FONT
size=4>pcnisbet1@hotmail.com</FONT></A><FONT size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>To: <</FONT><A href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com"><FONT
size=4>vision2020@moscow.com</FONT></A><FONT size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Sent: Friday, January 13, 2006 7:36 AM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Subject: [Vision2020] Nils, on water and mines Part
One</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT size=4>> Nils<BR>> <BR>> That
is exactly the fact finding and dialogue that we do need to have, but <BR>>
in that debate, the stereotypes need to be left at the door.<BR>> <BR>>
Say the word mine and instantly the devil has been invoked in Moscow.
<BR>> Frankly, it’s hard to actually discuss a topic or plan for a future
when <BR>> people are piling branches for an Auto de Fe, shouting, he's a
miner, burn <BR>> him. I swear to goodness I weigh more than a
duck.<BR>> <BR>> The resources that Mike or I are talking about are not
those over the top of <BR>> the Moscow Sub-Basin or any portions of the
Palouse Aquifer. They are in <BR>> places within Latah County that have
no hydrological impact on the water <BR>> debate here. And if anybody
is interesting in verifying that, they can <BR>> check with John Bush or Mark
Soloman. The Groundwater and surface waters of <BR>> Helmer and Bovill
and Deary are in a separate system and a system that <BR>> receives more
water than the Moscow Sub-basin does and is currently sparsely <BR>>
used.<BR>> <BR>> That is of course no excuse for any potential that any
industry should waste <BR>> water. But it is an indication that the
water budget in Bovill is not in <BR>> the same situation of extreme draw
down that occurs in Moscow. I concur <BR>> that a debate on how much
water and how it can be conserved in Eastern Latah <BR>> County needs to
occur. Making sure that the same over use that happened in <BR>> the
Palouse Supra-Basin does not happen below the Helmer embayment is very <BR>>
worthy of discussion.<BR>> <BR>> The minerals in the Helmer Bovill area
are inert. Contact between the <BR>> feldspar, quartz and clays of that
area and the water of the area does not <BR>> result in contamination of the
water or make it unfit for human or wildlife <BR>> consumption. If
water flowing over what is in essence granite were a <BR>> problem in that
regards, all of our water in Latah County would be a witches <BR>> brew and
unsafe to drink, since most of the area’s water is in contact with <BR>>
either the granite or sediments derived from it.<BR>> <BR>> Mining in the
Helmer Bovill area has been conducted for the past 100 years. <BR>>
Some of that mineral work has been with materials that did not require water
<BR>> processing and some was carried out using water.<BR>> <BR>> Most
of the list has been out at the Moose Creek Reservoir. That Lake was
<BR>> built for the use of JR Simplot's clay mine immediately to the south of
it. <BR>> It should give you an idea of the amounts of water needed to
carry out a <BR>> fairly extensive clay mine. Feldspar and quartz mine
operations require <BR>> much less water. And the Simplot operation,
which operated from 1958-1993, <BR>> was constructed without any sort of
modern water conservation. Current clay <BR>> or other mineral mines
recycle their water, which reduces requirements for <BR>> water to about 10%
of the needs that Simplot had.<BR>> <BR>> So, on the water front, the
question is one of planning requirements that <BR>> insist that operations
use water wisely and that assets like the Moose Creek <BR>> Reservoir are the
result of any operational plan.<BR>> <BR>> (Continued in Part two)<BR>>
<BR>> <BR>> <BR>>>From: Nils Peterson <</FONT><A
href="mailto:nils_peterson@wsu.edu"><FONT
size=4>nils_peterson@wsu.edu</FONT></A><FONT size=4>><BR>>>To:
<</FONT><A href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com"><FONT
size=4>vision2020@moscow.com</FONT></A><FONT size=4>><BR>>>Subject:
[Vision2020] Re: A Great Meeting<BR>>>Date: Fri, 13 Jan 2006 06:16:15
-0800<BR>>><BR>>>Phil, you made a related post on Nov 18, to which I
replied. Both are<BR>>>captured here: </FONT><A
href="http://moscowwiki.editme.com/Hwy95Hwy8Intersection"><FONT
size=4>http://moscowwiki.editme.com/Hwy95Hwy8Intersection</FONT></A><FONT
size=4> in the<BR>>>form of a proposal for where Moscow might house
some of those ceramic<BR>>>artists.<BR>>><BR>>>My follow on
comment this time would be that we need to be judicious in
how<BR>>>excited we get about clay mining, both from water resource
impacts and from<BR>>>extractive industry perspective. A model like
Wendt's that extracts clay <BR>>>for<BR>>>its own value added
production seems more appropriate, but even there one<BR>>>might find
there were limits on what would seem
appropriate.<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>>On 1/13/06 4:44 AM, "</FONT><A
href="mailto:vision2020-request@moscow.com"><FONT
size=4>vision2020-request@moscow.com</FONT></A><FONT
size=4>"<BR>>><</FONT><A
href="mailto:vision2020-request@moscow.com"><FONT
size=4>vision2020-request@moscow.com</FONT></A><FONT size=4>>
wrote:<BR>>><BR>>> > One of the points that Mike Wendt made at
the meeting is something that<BR>>> > ought to be discussed. He
noted that his on site sales of pottery from <BR>>>his<BR>>> >
out of the way shop in Lewiston, not exactly the best place for
tourist<BR>>> > trade, had a cash register that in a little less than
20 years of <BR>>>operations<BR>>> > had rung up over 3 million
dollars in sales. That is not from mass <BR>>>produced<BR>>>
> ceramics, but from true hand crafted pottery.<BR>>> ><BR>>>
> Mike's materials come from right here in Latah County. We have the
raw<BR>>> > stuff from which to form a high value added art related
industry in <BR>>>Moscow's<BR>>> > backyard. And its not
common clay or low value feldspar and quartz, its<BR>>> > some of the
best porcelain producing material in the
world.<BR>>><BR>>>_____________________________________________________<BR>>>
List services made available by First Step Internet,<BR>>> serving
the communities of the Palouse since
1994.<BR>>>
</FONT><A href="http://www.fsr.net"><FONT
size=4>http://www.fsr.net</FONT></A><BR><FONT
size=4>>>
</FONT><A href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com"><FONT
size=4>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com</FONT></A><BR><FONT
size=4>>>¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯<BR>>
<BR>>
_________________________________________________________________<BR>> Is
your PC infected? Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee® <BR>>
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size=4>> <BR>>
_____________________________________________________<BR>> List services
made available by First Step Internet, <BR>> serving the communities of
the Palouse since 1994.
<BR>>
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size=4>http://www.fsr.net</FONT></A><FONT
size=4>
<BR>> </FONT><A
href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com"><FONT
size=4>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com</FONT></A><BR><FONT size=4>>
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯<BR>>
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