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Clouds hang low in this aerial photo taken from an Aug. 16 Ecoflight heading toward Marble.

Heavy equipment working on a Crystal River bank stabilization project idle after Gunnison County issued a notice of violation and stop-work order Aug. 12 to Marble Airstrip LLC. The county and representatives of the landowners are still trying to resolve the issue. The equipment is visible on the lower center of the image. 

Clouds hang low in this aerial photo taken from an Aug. 16 Ecoflight heading toward Marble.

Heavy equipment working on a Crystal River bank stabilization project idle after Gunnison County issued a notice of violation and stop-work order Aug. 12 to Marble Airstrip LLC. The county and representatives of the landowners are still trying to resolve the issue. The equipment is visible on the lower center of the image. 

Both Gunnison County and a landowner near Marble want to settle a dispute over bank stabilization work along the Crystal River before spring runoff, but so far they have been unable to strike a deal.

Gunnison County issued a notice violation and stop-work order, also known as a red tag, to Marble Airstrip LLC on Aug. 12. The county staff said the work that started in late July violated its land use regulations on general standards for development in sensitive wildlife areas and protection of water quality. The county also concluded that a floodplain development permit was required.

A consultant for Marble Airstrip, ERO ­Resources, responded on Aug. 26 that it shared its plan for the proposed work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last December and was told a federal permit wasn’t necessary because of the project’s limited nature. ERO President Aleta Powers wrote that regular maintenance is needed to prevent the river from eating away at the Marble property. High water levels in recent years have exacerbated the threat.

“Extreme weather events during the 2021 monsoon season and ongoing spring runoff have resulted in extensive erosion of the adjacent (eastern) riverbank and opposite (western) riverbank, causing many large conifer trees to topple into the river, ponding water and pushing river flows toward the airstrip,” Powers wrote. “Several hundred feet of bank, levee and bank protection were removed by the river over the past one to two years, putting the airstrip at risk of inundation and erosion.”

The project was designed to remove fallen timber caused by bank erosion, reestablish the deepest part of the river and reshape river cobble without removing material.

Nothing in public records affiliated with this project or business license records at the Colorado Secretary of State’s office provide clues into the parties connected to Marble Airstrip LLC. However, an application filed on Marble Airstrip LLC’s behalf for a reclamation permit from Gunnison County provides a post office box in Bentonville, Arkansas, as Marble Airstrip’s address — the same post office box as Walton Enterprises LLC. The LinkedIn page for Walton Enterprises says it is a “family-led, private family office supporting the personal, philanthropic and business activity for multiple generations of Sam and Helen Walton’s family.

ERO provided a “courtesy notification” about proposed work to the Army Corps of Engineers in December 2021 and was told by the federal agency that the outlined work qualified for a “non-notifying Nationwide Permit.” An email from the federal agency was provided as verification.

Contractors moved heavy equipment to the site in late July and started working on the bank stabilization. The site is 2 miles west of Marble along the county road that connects the town and Highway 133. The work in the highly visible site captured the attention of area residents who asked the Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association to look into it. CVEPA, as the organization is known, sent an inquiry to Gunnison County that triggered a staff site visit and, ultimately, the red tag.

ERO’s response to Gunnison County’s stop-work order said “it appears” the project qualified for an exception to the county’s rules on protection of water quality because the work had a federal permit. That’s one of the criteria in the county land use regulations for an exemption.

ERO also contended that the work appeared to qualify for exemption from a floodplain development permit because it was necessary to alleviate flood hazards and protect the property.

Regarding the county’s concern about the work affecting wildlife habitat areas, ERO responded, “The project has not resulted in permanent impacts on wildlife habitat as all work was conducted between the riverbanks in habitat that is continuously altered by sediment and cobble mobilization.”

Gunnison County responded on Sept. 12 that it needed more information. ERO must complete a wetlands delineation to ensure wetlands protection compliance and uphold buffering standards, according to the county. In addition it wants ERO to complete a floodplain development permit.

The county also noted that the Army Corps of Engineers has visited the site since the controversy arose and is preparing a report on what it observed.

“Once we receive the Army Corps of Engineers report, the wetlands delineation, the floodplain development permit, and public works has reviewed your reclamation permit, we will have a clearer picture of how to move forward,” Gunnison County Planner Sean Pope wrote on Sept. 12.

ERO’s Powers said in an email Thursday that her company is reviewing the response by Gunnison County and that she didn’t have anything further to say at this point.

John Armstrong, president of the board of directors of the Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association, said he was “pleased and in agreement” with Gunnison County’s response to ERO’s comments. He said CVEPA wants to make sure that river work is thoroughly reviewed and approved before heavy machinery commences. Allowing this project to proceed would provide incentive for other landowners along the river to act first and make sure it was OK later, he said.

Armstrong said he has stressed to county officials that the manipulated section of the river must be restored before winter so it doesn’t result in flooding issues during high water next spring. Pope said that is the county’s goal as well.

“We are aiming to find a resolution to this before the end of fall so they can complete whatever work is decided on before winter comes,” Pope said in an email.

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