Saturday, August 21st - Venus Dominates Morning Skies... Step outside just before sunrise this week and you will see Venus dominating our eastern skies... For best viewing look toward the east between 3am and 5 am... Venus will remain in our morning skies through early September when it will be joined by a crescent Moon...

Photo this morning of, "Venus at Sunrise"

Friday, August 20th - "You Drink, You Drive, You Lose"... Larimer County Sheriff’s Office deputies will conduct a DUI checkpoint on Saturday, August 21, 2004...  The checkpoint will be mobile in Larimer County and is intended to remove impaired and intoxicated drivers from Larimer County roadways... It will be located at Horsetooth Reservoir and also south of Masonville... Ten commissioned deputies and civilians will staff the checkpoint...  No taxpayer money is used as it is part of the “You Drink, You Drive, You Lose” campaign.... The complete news release can be found below...

Thursday, August 19th - Final Update On Road Contamination Issue... As of this afternoon, the critical time has passed for those concerned about run-off of road chemicals into the streams and rivers... Yesterdays rains washed much of the materials away with foam being reported along the shores of the Big Thompson the entire stretch of the canyon East of Drake, as anticipated... Federal, State, and County agencies are now investigating with other news agencies picking up the story... Barring any major developments this will be our final update on this matter... A letter from one effected resident, Darrell Spangler, can be found in our new, "Editorial Section", requesting opinions from the community and other viewers of this site on this issue...

Streams of foam flowed freely yesterday along roadsides of FDR 128, appearing like rivers of snow in some areas	One of thousands of foam accumulations from FDR 128 to the Dam Store at the mouth of the Big Thompson Canyon

Truck Crashes On Glen Haven Switchbacks... At 1:43pm it was reported that a 24 foot truck had crashed through the guardrail on the switchbacks of CO 43, one mile west of Glen Haven... The accident is reportedly on the upper switchback with the vehicle hanging partially over the edge... Emergency crews are currently on scene... Both the driver and the passenger have been transported to the Estes Park Medical Center for treatment... Residents traveling to or from Estes Park are advised to use Hwy 34 as delays can be expected until the accident scene is cleaned up...

Official Morning Update From County... It would appear that Larimer County slid by with only occasional high water is some small streams...no bona fide flooding or damage of any kind has been reported from our 1-3" rain event of yesterday. Even the 2 inches of rain in the area of the Picnic Rock fire did not cause problems of consequence. The forecast for today is less favorable for the heavy rains we had yesterday and the storms which may develop are going to be moving at perhaps 10-15 mph., unlike yesterday. But, we could still have a problem with saturated ground and it would take less rain than yesterday to give us a problem. So, the drill for today for all county residents living near rivers, creeks or flood prone areas is to be alert. Pay attention if it starts raining hard or for very long and stay tuned to local radio, television/ the Weather Channel and/or NOAA weather radio for information.

6:00am Update of Conditions... The conditions have improved somewhat overnight with the Flood Watch being lifted... Rains continued to fall thru the night at a light to moderate rate... Rivers is the area are reported as swollen but for the most part within their banks... No major damages or injuries have been reported as a result of flooding... Fog currently covers the hillsides with no further heavy rains predicted today... This is a blessing as the ground is well saturated and a major rain event today in this area could prove to be disastrous, but this is unlikely to occur...

"Misty Mountain Morning" - Fog hanging on hillsides

Wednesday, August 18th - Emergency Information Update From County... Things have settled down quite a bit and it appears we may have dodged a bullet for this evening. No new areas of concern to discuss and those which we were monitoring earlier are in good shape. The rains this evening are not expected to be nearly as heavy as was forecast this afternoon. This will be the last update on our (thankfully) non-flooding event. Should things take a bad turn later, which isn't expected, we will provide additional updates. Updates as they are released can be found below...

Evacuations In Glen Haven Along North Fork... As of 3:45pm, the Larimer County Sheriff's Department and other agencies have reportedly started a door-to-door evacuation of residents living in flood prone areas along the North Fork in the Glen Haven area... No further information is available at this time...

FLASH FLOOD WARNING ISSUED!!! The National Weather Service in Denver has issued a FLASH FLOOD WARNING for Larimer County until 7pm... At 1:02pm Doppler radar indicated very heavy rain 6 miles northwest of Glen Haven... The storm was nearly stationary and has reportedly dropped over 2 inches of rain in an hour... THIS IS A WARNING!!! A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING. IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY. RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS OR WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH BY FOOT OR BY AUTOMOBILE. IF YOUR VEHICLE STALLS ABANDON IT IMMEDIATELY AND SEEK HIGHER GROUND. 

Photo at 1:25pm of storms northwest of Glen Haven  producing heavy rains

Flood Watch Issued From 1:30pm to 6am... The National Weather Service in Denver has issued a Flash Flood Watch for much of the Northern Colorado urban corridor and foothills, including the Storm Mountain area, from 1:30pm this afternoon until 6am Thursday morning...  A slow moving system approaching from Utah will combine over the area with a cold front moving down from Wyoming to create favorable conditions for the development of heavy rains... Over 3" of rain may occur in a short amount of time with flash flooding possible within the watch area... The complete text of the watch can be found below...

Exact Composition Of Road Product Unknown... The manufacturer of the product applied to FDR 128 has reportedly refused to release exactly what other chemicals aside from Magnesium chloride and Lignin sulfonate the product contains, allegedly claiming that these chemicals are proprietary and protected from public knowledge by law... 

Chemicals Now In North Fork And Big Thompson... A check this morning has revealed that the road chemicals from FDR 128 have now made their way into the North Fork and Big Thompson rivers... The North Fork is now brown and foamy downstream of where the National Forest stream merges... The Big Thompson is also showing the same brown, foamy condition east of it's merge with the North Fork... Foaming and brown discoloration in the Big Thompson has now been reported as far downstream as the Narrows, several miles from the source point of FDR 128... Should predicted heavy rains develop today, this flow of chemicals into the rivers is expected increase dramatically... Photos and/or video of both areas will be posted here later this afternoon...

Tuesday, August 17th - Chemicals Wash Into Stream, EXCLUSIVE VIDEO... This afternoon's rains have begun to wash the road chemicals from FDR 128 into the National Forest Streams and towards the North Fork...  This exclusive video below was shot at 3:20pm this afternoon... Previous reports that the bridge over the North Fork was pouring chemicals into the river were somewhat exaggerated... Investigation revealed some dripping of chemicals but not on a large enough scale to warrant video... The area of the bridge is however expected to be of interest should rains continue, as is the confluence of the North Fork and Big Thompson rivers south of Hwy 34 in Drake... Heavy rains are predicted tomorrow along the Front Range, including the Storm Mountain area...

Pools containing chemicals gathering by paper boxes at intersection of CO 43 and FDR 128	Close-up of pool saturated with chemicals washed down by rains Tuesday afternoon

Maintenance Corporation  Responds To Neglect Allegations... The Cedar Park Road Maintenance Corporation yesterday responded to the allegations of negligence in applying road chemicals with the following statement, "CPRMC stands behind the letter of March 5, 2005 from the State of Colorado." The letter, actually dated March 5th, 2004, states several studies done by CDOT and other agencies on the use of Magnesium chloride as a deicer... These studies may be accurate but were based on it's limited use as a deicer and not in a 24hr a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year type situation... These studies were also based on it's use on paved roads and does not address it's use in combination with recycled asphalt, as on FDR 128... The use of Mag chloride is not the concern... The concern is of heavy, toxic metals being leeched from the recycled asphalt, as was confirmed by analysis of sludge deposited on a resident's property... Below is a link to the letter referred to by CPRMC...

Sunday, August 15th - Young Rabbit Seen Coated With Chemicals... As if matters weren't already bad enough, it was reported this afternoon that a young rabbit was seen coated with road chemicals... The rabbit was spotted by a resident in her driveway... It was reportedly covered with black, oily sludge from the neck down... The resident attempted to captured the bunny for treatment, but stated she was unable to do so... The impact on area wildlife had not been a concern previously, but with the report of the rabbit coated with chemicals, this now becomes a major issue...

Wouldn't You Be Angry If This Was Your Home??? This is the question a resident whose property was inundated with chemical run-off asks... "I mean really now, if your property that you had worked your entire life to have was recklessly and repeatedly damaged by chemical waste, wouldn't you be angry too? I'll guarantee you would!!! I have tried to be civil and even asked the day before this occurred if they were going to take measures to prevent contamination to my land... My questions and concerns were ignored by the road crew and now I have gallons of this crap in my yard... Heads are gonna roll for this one... I gave them the benefit of the doubt last year but I am done playing this game... They have total disregard for my property, my family, and our environment... They, well Rich Miller in particular, just want a smooth road to sell more houses, the cost of which is irrelevant... I hope they have good insurance or a large stock of money, because trust me they are sure going to need it!"  It has also been alleged by several separate residents that this application was intentionally scheduled for a Friday to circumvent County officials from stopping them from putting the chemicals down... Should this be true, criminal charges may be indicated... Parties possibly liable for damages include Rich Miller, Cedar Park Road Maintenance Corporation, and the National Forest Service who owns the road... Other parties may also be liable depending on permits issued and licenses held...

Chemicals foaming from heavy flow thru property	One of many thick chemical flows on resident's property
Preparing to take samples for analysis and evidence	Taking the samples - Note thick oily consistency