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B. Submit a permanent groundwater mounding mitigation plan ("permanent <br />plan") to the Division no later than 90 days after the effective date of this Order. The <br />permanent plan shall be submitted in an approvable form, either as a technical <br />revision or a permanent amendment. Implementation of that permanent plan shall <br />commence within thirty (30) days of the Division approval." <br />TEMPORARY PLAN <br />On May 18, 2015 the Operator submitted a temporary plan as a Technical <br />Revision No. 4 (TR -04) to Hazeltine Mine Permit No. M-2004-31, which was approved <br />by the Division on June 15, 2015. This technical revision consisted of the installation of <br />two (2) 18 -inch diameter CMP pipes to draw down water levels from the adjacent Orr <br />property as quickly as possible and it successfully reduced the standing water in the <br />swampy area between the Hazeltine slurry wall and across the Orr property <br />approximately two feet, which was the goal. <br />PERMANENT PLAN <br />On July 20, 2015, the Operator filed Technical Revision No. 5 ("TR -05") in <br />further compliance of the Board's Order of April 15, 2015. The Division by letter of <br />July 24, 2015 denied the filing of TR -05 on the basis that the permanent plan had more <br />than a "minor effect upon the approved reclamation plan" and would "increase the <br />acreage of the affected land," thus requiring a formal amendment which essentially <br />triggers all of the requirements of a Regular (112) Operation Application with the <br />attendant review by numerous state agencies, neighboring property owners and public <br />hearing. <br />The Operator disputes this decision of July 24, 2015 and seeks a Board <br />determination that the permanent groundwater mounding mitigation plan may <br />proceed as TR -05 and not as an Amendment. <br />FACTUAL BACKGROUND <br />It is important for the Board to take into consideration that mining operations at <br />the Hazeltine Mine will be completed within a matter of months. Before the end of the <br />year it is currently estimated that all mining operations will be completed and all <br />stockpile materials will have been depleted. <br />The Board may recall from the testimony of the March 25, 2015 hearing herein, <br />that the reclaimed Hazeltine Mine has been sold to the City of Thornton as a water <br />storage reservoir. Prior to closing the sale of the reservoir, it must pass the 90 day leak <br />test administered by the Division of Water Resources and it is anticipated that this will <br />occur in the first quarter of 2016. <br />2 <br />