Is 15 More Years The Best Deal?

Op-Ed by Paul Tamburello

CEMEX Is a Top 100 Polluter in US, #1 in Boulder County

CEMEX, Boulder County’s #1 polluter, has applied to extend their Dowe Flats mining permit for an additional 15 years. Boulder County Parks and Open Space co-signed the application with CEMEX and stands to receive roughly $15 million in gifts from the deal. BCPOS already owns or has purchase options on 100% of the ~1600 acres at Dowe Flats the quarry near the Town of Lyons, but has their eyes set on really gaining purchase options for ~860 acres around the CEMEX cement plant, south of Highway 66. Approval of this application would delay the public’s use of the ~1600 acres of the Dowe Flats Open Space by 18 years. Several Boulder County agencies want this application approved, despite never consulting with the Town of Lyons who are impacted the most by such a move. Also apparently not considered is the clear contradiction to the County’s climate goals. CEMEX is responsible for nearly 7% of all greenhouse gasses in Boulder County.

There Is No Justification For The 15 Year Deal

Many Boulder County agencies justify their support of this application by saying it was the best deal we could get. But was it? I certainly don’t think so. I believe Boulder County is leaving a lot on the table at the expense of the surrounding communities, and our County-wide climate goals.

Dale Case, Director of Boulder County Community Planning and Permitting, has stated that the County simply does not have the resources to dig into things, presumably like all the research required to properly negotiate a deal like the one with CEMEX. The County relies on the public to help them but doesn’t seem to be hearing Boulder County’s resident/community experts as they try to help.

We’ve been presented with a deal positioned as “15 years or forever’. But is there a 3rd option? 

The positioning of this deal is a good place to start. “15 years or forever” is a CLASSIC negotiation tactic: the False Dilemma Fallacy. ​​”A false dilemma presents a choice between two mutually exclusive options, implying that there are no other options. One option is clearly worse than the other, making the choice seem obvious.”

Why 15 More Years?

Why 15 years? The Community thinks that is way too long. So did the Boulder County Planning Commission. CEMEX’s Mark Davies said they wanted more than 15 years when asked about it in the August 17th Planning Commission hearing. It’s hard not to see the correlation of ‘$15 million in gifts to Parks and Open Space’ and an ‘additional 15 years of mining’. So why didn’t we push harder for less time? If BCPOS accepted only $3 million in gifts, would just 3 years of additional mining be on the table?

For those not aware, the initial proposal negotiated between BCPOS and CEMEX did NOT include any demolition of the plant at the end of the 15 year period. CEMEX was quick to add that when Boulder County Planning pushed on that point. Just another proof point that CEMEX is willing to negotiate, and that BCPOS didn’t get the ‘best’ deal.

If well-trained in negotiation, CEMEX will feign distaste and try to walk away if this application is rejected, but they'll return to the negotiating table. Time is on the County’s side, and the September 30th deadline (the permit expiration date for Dowe Flats) is CEMEX’s, not ours. 

How do we know CEMEX will continue to negotiate?

Prices for raw shale or limestone (without shipping costs) is about $20-$40 per ton, which means CEMEX is trying to "unlock" about $100 million to $200 million worth of material at Dowe Flats. CEMEX is a publicly traded company with a fiduciary duty to maximize profits for its shareholders. CEMEX WILL NOT walk away without a deal to extract some of that value in the land at Dowe Flats. Would any rational corporation walk away from $100 million to $200 million of raw material without further efforts to negotiate?  

CEMEX Will Keep Coming Back For More

To point out the obvious, if CEMEX finds they still have another 5 million tons of raw material in the ground in another 15 years, they will do everything in their power to unlock that as well.  As they are demonstrating right now.  

All that is to say that there is definitely a better deal available for the residents of Boulder County. CEMEX will continue to negotiate, because they have to so they aren’t sued by their shareholders for negligence. The Town of Lyons proposed a very fair compromise as a counteroffer to this proposal in their Referral Response to CEMEX’s application but it has yet to be mentioned by any County officials in public proceedings. 

I recommend that CEMEX’s application to extend mining at Dowe Flats be REJECTED, and a NEW proposal negotiated with the Town of Lyons at the table. 15 years is too long!