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• The Bauer Ranch and Eagle's Nest neighborhoods have one entrance and one exit rendering <br />them land locked in the event of fire, traffic accident, blasting accident, landslides due to <br />blasting, etc. <br />• Currently there are three existing quarries within an 8 mile radius; these quarries are currently <br />operating at half their capacity. A better plan; and a plan that would have less impact to the <br />community and surrounding area would be to expand the existing quarries. This would also be <br />consistent with our Master Plan —Southwestern/Highway 115 Comprehensive Plan. <br />• Wildlife, wildlife habitats, wildlife migratory paths and biodiversity will be lost. An <br />environmental study needs to be completed, rather than take the word of the applicant, that <br />there are no endangered species located on the land or nearby lands. The proposed quarry site <br />could be in violation of the Federal and State Endangered Species Act. The Mexican Spotted <br />Owl, "Strix occidentalis lucida", is State and federally threatened, and has been identified in the <br />Southwestern/Highway 115 Corridor. <br />• Moving dirt and extracting rock from the ground alters the flow of water runoff. The abutting <br />neighborhoods depend strictly on well water supplies for all their water needs. There is <br />potential for well contamination and/or damage, or complete loss from nearby blasting, <br />contamination from blowing dust, and water runoff. Additionally, the heavy equipment <br />necessary for quarrying, and that uses gasoline, diesel, oil and transmission fluids; can <br />potentially leak these fluids. Small amounts to larger spills can contaminate 100' to 1000's of <br />gallons of ground water. <br />Quarrying requires heavy equipment, blasting, drilling, earthmoving, all of which create noise and dust, <br />and, would certainly diminish the quality of life and well-being of the adjacent land owners and <br />surrounding area. Southwestern/Highway 115 Corridor's unparalleled natural beauty will be <br />compromised and the landscape densely populated with quarries and their side effects. The 115 <br />Southwestern Highway area is currently taxed by the activities and traffic associated with Fort Carson, <br />Cheyenne Mountain State Park, RV Parks, and privately owned parks opened to the public, within the <br />surrounding area. Protection of the land, environment, and public health, safety, and wellbeing is <br />consistent with my constitutional rights. In alliance with the "Highway 115 Citizen's Advisory <br />Committee", the citizens, and the fellow neighborhoods along the corridor, I am opposed to the quarry <br />development. <br />Sincerely, <br />BruceHC e <br />11340 Valle Verde Drive <br />Colorado Springs, CO 80926 <br />