FALCON — Those who live in the area near Judge Orr Road and Stapleton are worried about what a possible concrete plant could do to their rural lifestyle.
News 5 learned it's where Pete Lien & Sons wants to build a concrete ready-mix batch plant. The company has other plants in the Colorado Springs area.
Falcon residents say they're concerned about the potential impacts it could have on their water, health, roads, and home values. Now, they want the company to find a different location.
Falcon resident Dan Fields said, "The last thing we wanted was heavy industrial."
Fields has lived near Judge Orr Road and Stapleton for more than 20 years.
"It fits our lifestyle. We have a small cow, calf operation, have horses...you came out here as a sanctuary."
But that sanctuary that he and other residents enjoy could soon vanish.
According to Danielle Wiebers, the executive technical director of environmental & safety affairs, by expanding into Falcon "we can cut about 10 to 20 loaded miles off of each of our delivery trucks."
But if the plant gets approved Fields says he's worried about how the air quality will be impacted from dust.
"There's always a breeze so the dust mitigation would be a constant activity by this company."
As far as ready-mix goes Wiebers said, "It really comes down to dust which is all controlled by bag houses on the plant so we're handled that way through the state permitting and then they come out and they monitor."
Heavier traffic from construction is also a worry for Fields, but his biggest concern is the use of water.
Fields said, "The thousands and thousands and thousands of gallons it's just going to take from dust mitigation and that's not even for the concrete process."
The source for a lot of people like Fields is well water.
Wiebers said, "Those would not supply a plant of this size so we're going to be going considerably deeper which we've already permitted that water piece of this project."
That's something else Fields says he's worried about.
While Wiebers feels concerns like these are completely valid she said, "I also feel like the county and the state have done a good job in making sure those are mitigated up front before a project's ever approved."
As for Fields, he believes "there's so many options as opposed to coming here and disrupting everything."
Wiebers says impact studies are expected to wrap up in a few weeks and after that the company will have a full application submitted to El Paso County.
The county says the application, which also includes a variance of use, has to go through public hearings through the planning commission and board of county commissioners. Nothing has been scheduled, but if you'd like the chance to speak about this attend the public hearings.
