Ironwood Mill Ordered to Clean Up Massive Chip Pile

The Ironwood Veneer Mill located near Dolores, Colorado, has entered into a court-ordered agreement with Montezuma County to remove a massive chip pile which is in violation of Colorado state disposal regulations.

The Ironwood mill began operations in 2020 but quickly ran into problems because it did not have a certificate of designation from the county for solid waste disposal for the wood chips. It also did not have an engineering operations plan approved by CDPHE to qualify for an exemption of the certificate of designation.

According to the injunction issued by the Montezuma Country District Court on November 23, 2022, Ironwood Group LLC is required to remove all chips on the mill site by February 28, 2023. The pile is currently estimated to be 128,000 cubic yards, down from 180,000 cubic yards. The court has set up incremental removal dates, and it has stipulated that by December 31, 2022, the pile must be separated into two separate piles with a minimum of 40’ separation between the two.

Ironwood Group LLC says it plans to work with Montezuma County on reapplying and renewing its operating permits, which were revoked in October 2021 because the chip pile was in violation of state regulations and created a fire hazard. The plan is to upgrade the operation from just a veneer mill and restart as a full plywood factory that would create when in full operation 200 jobs.