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Feb. 4, 2015 <br />Ms. Marcia Talvitie <br />DRMS Durango Office <br />691 CR 233, Suite A -2 <br />Durango, CO 81301 <br />Dear Ms. Talvitie, <br />RECEIVED <br />FEB 12 2015 <br />Durango Field Office <br />Division o� Reclamation, <br />Mining and Safety <br />My name is Tim Gallagher and I am the President of the Vista de Oro Property Owners <br />Association. In that position I represent the 35 property owners in the subdivision <br />adjacent to the GCC mine. The concern we all share at this time is that of the GCC KC <br />11 mine expansion request here in Hesperus. Specifically, we are concerned about the <br />past permitting process. <br />Having researched the public records documents relative to the original coal mining <br />permit transfer of ownership we find at least a few instances of improper permitting and <br />substantive examples lack of communication between various government agencies_ <br />That lack of communications between agencies led to a breakdown in following the letter <br />of the NEPA law and the policies and procedures of each of those agencies. <br />In reading the Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal <br />Mining Rev. 9114/05 under Section 1.04 (Definitions), we read the following; <br />(132) "Surface coal mining operations" means: <br />(a) Activities conducted on the surface of lands in connection with a <br />surface coal mine <br />(144) "Underground mining activities" means a combination of: <br />(b) Underground operations such as underground construction, operation, and <br />reclamation of shafts, adits, underground support facilities <br />The currently approved permit issued by your office is for a surface mining operation. <br />But the current operation being conducted is an underground coal mining operation. We <br />question how this could have happened in the first place and more importantly we urge <br />DRMS to fix this problem immediately and before the expansion permit is granted. <br />Please help us in correcting the current problem and ensuring all the citizens of La Plata <br />County that all federal and state requirements have been met prior to your office <br />approving the expansion request for underground coal mining. Thank you for your <br />attention to this serious matter. <br />Si�e[y, <br />i G <br />Tim Gall er <br />Cc; Sen. Ellen Roberts <br />Rep. Scott Tipton <br />Mr. Mike King Director, CO Dept. of Natural Resources <br />Ms. Ginny Brannon, Director Division of Reclamation and Mining Safety <br />La Plata County Board of County Commissioners <br />