Acting on a recommendation from the state’s Water Development Commission, the Wyoming legislature recently approved a $30 million appropriation to build the Sandstone Dam (HCN, 12/27/93). The commission okayed the project despite conflicting evidence regarding the geologic suitability of the site. Mike West, a geologist hired by opponents of the dam, says he found irregularities in the report by the commission’s geological consultants. West charges they stopped their core sampling just short of a shale layer that’s inadequate to anchor the kind of dam planned for the site. Work on an environmental impact statement begins this month.

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Wyoming dam gets go-ahead

by Staff, High Country News
June 13, 1994

<h1>Wyoming dam gets go-ahead</h1> <p class="byline">by Staff, High Country News <br />June 13, 1994</p> <p>Acting on a recommendation from the state’s Water<br /> Development Commission, the Wyoming legislature recently approved a<br /> $30 million appropriation to build the Sandstone Dam (HCN,<br /> 12/27/93). The commission okayed the project despite conflicting<br /> evidence regarding the geologic suitability of the site. Mike West,<br /> a geologist hired by opponents of the dam, says he found<br /> irregularities in the report by the commission’s geological<br /> consultants. West charges they stopped their core sampling just<br /> short of a shale layer that’s inadequate to anchor the kind of dam<br /> planned for the site. Work on an environmental impact statement<br /> begins this month.</p> <div class="wp-block-group hcn-print-edition-box"> <p>This article appeared in the <a href="/?p=187553">print edition of the magazine</a> with the headline <span class="hcn-magtitle">Wyoming dam gets go-ahead</span>.</p> </p></div> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/issue-15/wyoming-dam-gets-go-ahead/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hcn.org">High Country News</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://www.hcn.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=104336&amp;ga4=G-0NS3WVPPTN" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p> Copy to Clipboard

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