Lummis on Natural Resources, Budget seats

CHEYENNE - Rep. Cynthia Lummis said she's been assigned to two House committees that will affect federal policies and programs in Wyoming.

Lummis will be serving on the House Committee on Natural Resources and on the House Budget Committee.

Lummis said earlier in the week that she was interested in the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Ethics Committee. She didn't get any of those spots.

Even so, Lummis says her Natural Resources Committee assignment will enable her to fight for public access to national parks, defend Wyoming's water rights and help ensure that public lands remain open to grazing. On the Budget Committee, Lummis said she will push to cut wasteful government spending.

Lummis was sworn in Tuesday. She replaced Barbara Cubin, who served 14 years as Wyoming's lone U.S. representative.

Sleeping Giant gets $500,000 grant

CODY - The State Loan and Investment Board has approved a $500,000 grant for the Sleeping Giant ski area, located about 45 miles west of Cody in the Shoshone National Forest.

The grant was part of a $22 million package of Wyoming Business Council infrastructure and community enhancement funding for cities and towns across the state.

The money will be used to help purchase and install electrical system upgrades, snowmaking equipment and a new triple-chair lift for the west side of the ski area, said Bryant Hall, executive director for Sleeping Giant.

Kim Sears, a WBC spokeswoman, said the grant is contingent on Sleeping Giant raising by May 1 an additional $766,697 in matching funds required to finish the improvements.

Sleeping Giant must also partner with an appropriate nonprofit group if its federal tax-exempt status is not yet approved by May 1, Sears said.

Hall said the community-run nonprofit Sleeping Giant organization will be seeking donations from businesses and individuals in the weeks ahead.

All five Park County commissioners as well as outgoing Commissioner Marie Fontaine made personal donations of $100 each to Sleeping Giant earlier this week, said Hall, son of Commissioner Bucky Hall.

The ski area has been closed since spring 2004, and organizers were unable to meet fundraising goals in time to open the hill this winter, but have said they now plan to reopen by Thanksgiving.

More than $3.5 million in repairs and improvements are planned for the ski area, including new lifts, a new bridge and adding an additional 400 vertical feet of runs at the top of existing slopes.

Organizers say their goal is to create a winter sports hub that will attract residents from across the Big Horn Basin and surrounding areas.

Citation to pay $860,000 for spill

GILLETTE - A 25,000-gallon oil and discharged water spill into the North Fork of the Powder River in northern Wyoming will cost Citation Oil and Gas Corp. $860,000 in penalties and other costs.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the U. S. Department of Justice announced an agreement with the company.

The spill occurred in June 2004 in Johnson County when a flow line ruptured. The spill affected six miles of the river, coating the river banks in some places and some wildlife.

Citation compliance manager Lee Ann Elsom said Friday that the spill was unintentional and that the company has responded aggressively by replacing the underground flow line and cleaning up the area.

The agreement requires Citation to improve its spill prevention plan and to install new spill prevention and monitoring measures.