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Lawsuit filed over Electra Lake access road

Cheavens claims Xcel Energy ‘obliterated’ historic wagon trail
A federal lawsuit has been filed after Xcel Energy used a dirt road to access a dam in need of repair just north of Needles Country Store off of U.S. Highway 550. A Texas man who owns a vacation home in the area claims that the road has historical value, and that Xcel left the road “obliterated.” This photo shows the road after Xcel Energy used it in 2013.

DENVER – A Texas man with a vacation home north of Needles Country Store off of U.S. Highway 550 filed a federal lawsuit claiming a utility company destroyed a historic road while repairing a dam.

Joseph Cheavens, a retired attorney, filed the case on behalf of himself in U.S. District Court in Denver.

The lawsuit alleges that Xcel Energy, operating as Public Service Corporation of Colorado, violated the Archaeological Resources Protection Act by not improving a dirt road that was used to access the dam at the north end of Electra Lake.

The historical value and age of the road remains an unanswered question, but Cheavens believes it was constructed in the 1880s or early 1900s to be used as a wagon road.

Because the road runs through the San Juan National Forest, Xcel was required to obtain a permit from the U.S. Forest Service.

An agreement was reached that Xcel would rebuild the road after its use. The utility ran heavy industrial machinery up and down the road after the project was first proposed in February 2013.

Cheavens alleges Xcel “obliterated” the road, and the Forest Service never enforced the agreement to rebuild. He said the road is a popular hiking trail for property owners in the area to access lakes and rivers for fishing.

“We all agreed the dam needed to be replaced,” said Cheavens, who pointed to leaking infrastructure, which could have catastrophic consequences if ever breached.

“And we had no objections to them using the old, existing road. ... But it is so radically different now than the road that existed before the work they did in 2013,” he said.

Cheavens said the road was plowed to the point where it now is uneven, with large boulders and logs along the surface.

But Xcel challenges the age of the road, bringing in its own archaeologist who has placed the creation of the road sometime in the 1980s.

“Our research shows that this property does not have historical significance,” said Mark Stutz, spokesman for Xcel Energy.

Xcel pointed out the property is not even really a public road, suggesting it is more akin to a temporary access point.

“Official access has been limited or denied to the public by various property owners over the years,” Stutz said.

Forest Service officials said the case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado.

“We received the lawsuit, and we’re in the process of reviewing it to determine whether it has merit,” said U.S. attorney spokesman Jeff Dorschner.

pmarcus@durangoherald.com



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