Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Home › News › Local News

Lawmakers out to put brakes on dam-road closures

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 28, 2008 at 2:41 p.m.
Updated July 28, 2008 at 2:41 p.m.

Text size  

More Local News

More stories »

CORRECTION:This article which ran Monday on RockyMountainNews.com misidentified one of the lawmakers involved in the Dillon Dam road dispute. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, is a state senator representing the 16th Senatorial district. The error has been corrected.

Two Summit County lawmakers will announce on Tuesday plans to introduce laws to make it harder for government agencies to shut down local dams and roads in the name of national security.

Summit County residents and officials are hopping mad about how Denver Water shut down Lake Dillon Dam Road two weeks ago, declaring a terrorism threat but being vague about how serious that threat was.

Firefighters said the closure put lives at risk because they couldn't use one of the few east-west passageways in the county to get to emergencies.

Now, State Rep. Christine Scanlan, D-Dillon, and Rep. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, are backing their local officials in fighting for a change.

"We want to take some action so no other community has to go through what we did, to challenge this in such a reactive way," Scanlan said this afternoon.

Their plan is to introduce one bill that would require an agency to share the threat assessment with local officials — say, county commissioners and local fire chiefs.

"In the Lake Dillon Dam Road case, Denver Water based it on a 2006 assessment that our people had never seen," Scanlan said.

"That was two years ago, and we still have no basis for understanding why they did what they did."

The second bill would state that if a government entity wants a road or dam closed, and if there's time to plan for it, the entity has to include local emergency crews in the planning.

Lake Dillon Fire Rescue officials were livid that they had almost no advance notice of the closing, and that after the road closed, they couldn't get their bigger trucks through, even after someone from Denver Water unlocked the gate.

"Denver Water decided around July 2 to shut down the road, but didn't tell us anything until July 9," she said. "They could have had a week to work with local law enforcement on contingency planning."

Denver Water officials had said they didn't want to make an announcement during that week because they didn't want to draw the attention of terrorists.

"We're not asking them to do a public announcement," Scanlan said. "We're asking them to talk to our sheriff and the right local authorities."

Scanlan said if a government agency such as Denver Water receives word of an eminent threat, an immediate shutdown might be justifiable.

"But if you're worrying because a threat is escalating, there's time to take measures and work with local authorities."

Scanlan and Gibbs will announce more details of their pending bills Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. at the Dillon Lake Dam Road in Dillon.

The situation on the road right now is tolerable, if not ideal, Scanlan said. Fire officials have their own sets of keys to the padlocked gate and can have full access to the road most of the day, but not at night, she said.

Comments

  • July 28, 2008

    4:29 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jackwoehr writes:

    See my blog on this topic at http://denver.yourhub.com/Evergreen/B...

  • July 28, 2008

    4:32 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    GILPINMAN writes:

    WHY NOT AT NIGHT? DO TERORISTS ONLY ATACK AT NIGHT?

  • July 28, 2008

    5:23 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jackwoehr writes:

    Yes, and while the wolfbane blooms. Say your prayers!

  • July 28, 2008

    5:54 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    extort writes:

    GILPINMAN -
    The sun is a giant fireball and starts every fire, therefore fires only start when it is light out.
    Everyone knows that! ;-)

  • July 28, 2008

    6:49 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    GILPINMAN writes:

    It must be that i'm stuck in the mountains and don't know how they do things in the rest of the world. I go to sleep at night. Do they not sleep? I get seeepy. I supose if you don't have any purpose in life other than wanting virgins why not stay out all night.... are all terorists just entering puberty? That would explain alot.