A state agency has notified the county of two underground coal mine fires that should be considered a possible threat to start wildfires.

The two mines, the Minnesota Creek Mine and the States Mine, are both assumed to be “relatively low activity” according to the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety.

“Nevertheless,” a letter from the division states, “there are indications that burning coal mines have caused wildfires in the past.”

The abandoned States Mine is located along an unpaved section of T Road northwest of Cedaredge. The section of the county road that accesses the area was closed by the county last year. A washout from heavy rains on steep slopes undermined the road bed.

The Minnesota Creek Mine is located about four miles east of Paonia, according to the division. But, it is not listed on the topozone.com website which provides a comprehensive list of closed mines in the county, including the States.

“Periods of activity and inactivity (in the fires) are common. The fires vent and are provided oxygen through fractures in the ground surface. These fractures vary in size and may or may not be visible. These vents may exhaust combustion gases from 100 to over 600 degrees Fahrenheit. The gases may be toxic,” the division’s report states.

The division’s report states that Mesa County has five active mine fires burning and a total of 35 in the state.

The BoCC received the cautionary notice from the state and reviewed it during their June 21 meeting. In other business during that meeting, the county commissioners dealt with the following matters:

• The commissioners received a sales tax report showing a 1 percent decline in receipts for June compared with the same month a year earlier. It was the 15th consecutive monthly decline. County receipts are averaging an almost 6 percent decline over the past 12 months.

• The BoCC authorized the County Geographic Information Systems Department to add mosquito control area maps to the county’s publicly available map database. The maps of the Paonia Mosquito Control District had received the okay for Internet distribution from the county environmental health department and from the county board of health.

• The commissioners heard a report from assistant county administrator Jeff Emmons on progress of the new restroom and shower facility being built by Kissner Construction at the county fairgrounds. Construction schedule calls for completion of the facility in time for the county fair.

• Commissioners received bids for seal coating the courthouse parking lots, including the one at 6th and Dodge. The four bids ranged from a low of $8,400 to a high of $16,867.

• The board gave its approval for the release of state funding for the Delta Housing Authority’s programs in the amount of $7,901.

• The BoCC held preliminary discussions with legal staff on the issue of giving time extensions for subdivision applications which are still in process, but which have gone inactive due to the housing bubble bursting.

• Solid waste coordinator Bruce Bertram reported that a private composting facility that is trying to get state permission to operate in the North Fork area had been at least temporarily shut down because of a stringent review regimen imposed by the state health department on the permit application.

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