Demolition waste storage scrutinized

KD Excavation has had a lot of calls recently from people wanting to salvage timber or other materials from the demolition of the Colonnade building in Ketchum.

The firm has also fielded complaints, because the Ketchum company is hauling the material to the defunct Minnie Moore Mine outside Bellevue.

"I think they think we’re burying it all," owner Kary Yates said. "We’re not doing that."

Instead, Yates said the demolition waste will be sorted and anything worthwhile will be salvaged.

Everything else, like sheetrock and lumber will be trucked to the Milner Butte landfill near Burley.

A permit to burn excess wood was denied by Wood River Fire and Rescue.

Usually demolition waste is taken to the Ohio Gulch Transfer Station in Blaine County between Ketchum and Hailey.

Scheduling concerns and the volume involved, an expected 200 truckloads, prompted Yates to make the arrangements with the mine owner to sort the material there. The sorting must be completed by the end of June.

Although Yates said he’s trying to do the environmentally sound thing by not burying everything, the county has taken an interest in the operation.

Blaine County Zoning Administrator Deborah Vignes said the matter is under review to determine whether the temporary storage of the debris on private property constitutes a zoning violation.