DRMS Comment Objection Intake 7/21/2021 9:44:34 AM

Home

Comment/Objection Narrative* I am very concerned that this project is even being considered.That the applicants are going to the State level before getting the local land use permits says that this applicant either doesn't understand proper procedure,or doesn't care,neither of which bode well for their future actions. Please deny this quarry application. That acreage, if it is to be developed at all,would be better used for housing. Central City has already promised water and sewer taps for residential use. It would still destroy the area to develop it for housing, but the impacts would be so much more manageable and the damage more easy to mitigate. Open pit strip mining can never be completely"reclaimed"out here in the and West. Back East it can be re- contoured,seeded,and not look too awful in a few decades, but out here the land doesn't recuperate well or easily. Its bad enough that tourists,a major source of the two counties'economies,see the Frei Mine just as they are going into the high country.We don't need, nor can we afford,a second eye-sore strip operation destroying our bucolic mountain vistas. Plus,the applicants want to mine hard rock gravel, but its never that simple.An in depth full EIS should be completed proving there aren't any heavy metals that would be disrupted and exposed to leach into the environment during their proposed mining. Its unacceptable to allow this project to create another Super Fund Site needing cleaned up by taxpayers who not only didn't gain anything from this mining operation,but actually lost too much to calculate(impacts on our quality of life,our environment,our own livelihoods,the destruction of the reasons we moved to these counties in the first place,etc.). Please deny this quarry. How would the applicants deal with air quality? I don't want to have more particulates in the air.With no end in sight for the climate changes that are creating our drought conditions,where and how does the applicant plan to get water to knock the dust down?With the on-going water shortages,junior rights will be cut off more and more in the coming years.Are they proposing state of the art high tech filters,and so on,that will remove the dust instead?Without an iron-clad mandate of these problems being completely rectified and cured,as it goes along,not after operations cease,this project should not be allowed to happen. A mandatory bond that will cover 100%of the clean up has to be included in any permitting process. Its important that there be no"Oops,sorry, but we can't pay for that"after it shuts down.Without safeguards like that,the project should not be Permitted. The wildlife in that area is already overly stressed.The Big Horns are hanging on by a thread,already crowded out by the encroachment of human population and roads.There is no way to adequately mitigate the noise and additional disruption of habitat.The noise of a mining operation alone makes wildlife mitigation impossible,and that the project not be permitted. They also must be held responsible for all run-off and groundwater pollution from open exposed granite. No excuses. Then there's the increased heavy truck traffic that will destroy the roads there.The state and local governmental agencies should not have to rebuild and repair the damage. Its unacceptable to transfer those costs onto the local tax base,or even the state's. With limited ingress and egress, it puts the local drivers at risk of life and limb.Who's responsible when(not if) residents are hit or killed by these heavy trucks?The area is not suited to this increased traffic. Please deny this project/Permit/application. Permit Number* Enter valid letter and then numbers,for example M122112211 or C123456789. M2021009 Permitting Action Type