Developer to clean up mines near Triumph
By SUSAN BAILEY
Wood River Journal
Blaine County - More than 800 acres of rugged steep land and abandoned silver mines in the hills between Independence Creek Road in Elkhorn and East Fork Road in Triumph may soon be transformed into public land and home sites.
DeNovo Properties of Chicago and Indianapolis announced this week it has purchased 848 acres from the former Triumph Mining Co. with plans to deed 85 percent of it to the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service or a Blaine County agency once it's been cleaned up. Some land, about 15 percent, would be sold for homes, DeNovo officials said.
“DeNovo's modus operandi is to find environmentally distressed situations and make them new again,” said Ryan Cronk, a partner in the project. “We're excited to be there. We're excited to deliver a project we're excited about. We hope people will be excited about it, too.”
Rising to a height of 8,000 feet in elevation in some places, the privately held mining land has been used by the public for sighting in rifles, hunting elk, riding mountain bikes and backpacking for dozens of years, but that's about to change. Clean up will start with the removal of mining operation remnants in the form of concrete foundations, rusting generators and piles of mine waste. Once approvals are in place, remediation should take about eight or nine months, officials say.
Former Triumph resident Carl Massaro sold 54 patented mining claims dating from the 1800s to DeNovo Properties earlier this month. The sale included three mines, Triumph, which closed in the 1950s, and North Star and Independence, which were abandoned almost 20 years ago. Twenty-four open tunnels and numerous tailings heaps are scattered in the hills, Cronk said.
None of the land is inside any city Area of Impact. Current county zoning on the private mining claims ranges from Rural Remote RR-40 to a middle-density R-.04 on East Fork Road. Development in the county requires septic systems and wells for water and wastewater. Connection to city water and sewer mains could only happen after annexation.
The nearest city, Sun Valley, has never before considered expanding its boundaries in the direction of Independence Gulch, according to former Planning and Zoning member and current City Council member Nils Ribi.
DeNovo plans to submit a subdivision application in November, Cronk said.
Between the city of Sun Valley and the start of DeNovo land on Independence Creek Road is 6,130 feet of space. In some places, the Independence Creek Road is a 20 percent grade. Nevertheless, Cronk said development is possible on two parcels, one near East Fork Road and the other between the steepest part of Independence Creek Road and Triumph and developers hope to end up with 24 to 50 residential parcels.
“We have been looking at this site since June,” Cronk said. “The owners fell in love with it. They love the area. We all love Sun Valley.” Three dirt roads led into the property, two of them in Triumph. Courier Gulch Road and Triumph Gulch Road provide rough access at this time. Cronk and partners Brian Pitkin and Jonathon Markoff are in town this week, attending the Sun Valley Sustainability Conference and meeting with consultants.
“We're working on plans right now to figure out preservation and conservation,” said Cronk, who arrived on Monday. “We've created a plan that we view as very responsible. Mining is not what we want to do.”
The company would like to recycle water and use solar energy on the property, hence the interest in the Sustainability Conference. He said DeNovo would relinquish all mining rights and ensure future mining cannot take place on the land. The partners are working with local engineers and land use planners and want to meet with trail users and any other groups who would be impacted by the project.
“We love feedback,” Cronk said.
While the idea of buying old mines and turning the land to another use might sound a little crazy, it's been done in other places, sometimes by DeNovo Properties.
“DeNovo does have a proven track record,” said Robbie McKay of public relations firm The Rose in Los Angeles. He said the DeNovo company includes principals with extensive environmental, remediation, construction, financial and transactional expertise.
The remediation process will be carried out through the Voluntary Cleanup Program in partnership with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality in Boise, Cronk said.
“We've been impressed with the professionalism and quality of the remediation plan that DeNovo Independence has proposed and we're looking forward to working with them on this site,” said Bruce Wicherski, Voluntary Cleanup Program Manager for the Idaho DEQ.
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