Weld County issues emergency order after dust from neighboring field buries access road, damages trees

The Weld County Board of County Commissioners on April 7 found that soil was blowing from a field owned or operated by Hyatt McKittrick in quantities injurious to neighboring private property and declared an emergency under Colorado Revised Statutes §35-72-103.

The declaration requires application of stabilizing material along the easement and in a larger strip south of a fence post on the subject parcel, and directs the West Greeley Conservation District to inspect completion. Commissioners set a date certain of April 21 for the work to be completed and will reconvene to verify compliance.

The finding followed testimony from Liz Schneider, conservation and small acreage technician at the West Greeley Conservation District, who said she visited the site on March 17 after a complaint and observed “a lot of bone soil piled up” along the easement and active blowing on a “very mild day.” Schneider recommended applying manure to hold the surface, recommending “45 tons per acre” as a stabilizing rate and urging a living root cover to prevent further erosion.

Neighbor Charles Bennett described repeated…