2016-04-14_PERMIT FILE - M2016009

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RUSLER PRODUCE, INC. GROWER & DISTRIBUTOR OF FINE VEGETABLES P.O. BOX 69 • (719) 947-3361 April 13, 2016 AVONDALE, COLORADO 81022 Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety RECEIVED 1313 Sherman Street Room 215 1---APR 14 zone Denver, CO. 80203 �o1�fo ,_QQp Dear Sirs/Madams, We wish to ardent) op�pos_e�the proposed gravel pit known as the"44th Lane Project" at or near Section 19,Township 21 South, Range 62 West, 6th Prime Meridian in the town of Avondale in Pueblo County, dated to commence July, 2016. This proposed site and haul routes sit above and along approximately FOUR MILES of the largest irrigation ditch in Pueblo County,the Bessemer Ditch.We foresee many issues with the dust,sand and the disturbance of the soil along the water delivery system of thousands of acres of farmland.The irrigation practices employed by our farms and by our neighbors require clean, chemical free water.This water can be audited multiple times per month by governmental agencies as well as third party auditors in order to confirm that farms comply with required Good Agricultural Practices.The probability of an overturned gravel truck or other mining equipment's raw materials, oils, diesel or other contaminants leaking into our water carries with it significant legal implications.The unintended consequences of a heavy rainstorm washing these materials, let alone the actual mud and earth from the piles of fines and over-burdens potentially blocking up the ditch or plugging up the pipes that deliver the water from the Bessemer to the farms, especially to center-pivot sprinklers and drip irrigation systems is troublesome, to say the least. With the yet undetermined, but extensive duration and huge scope of this project, it is not a matter of"if", but a matter of"when"one of these disasters will happen. This site and the surrounding area is zoned A-1 for a reason, it is some of the best farm ground in the United States, classified as Prime Irrigated Soil. We own and operate a 2750 acre farm, 1600 of which are irrigated and all of which are both downhill and downstream of the proposed site.We clean all water prior to coming on to our farms to keep noxious weed seeds and trash from entering our complex irrigation system.Gravel fines would wreak havoc on this system that we have implemented and perfected over the last 37 years.To have our livelihood and the livelihoods of our neighbors in this agricultural community burdened and challenged by converting it suddenly to an industrial area, complete with not only mining, but processing facilities and with hundreds of semi-trucks per day crossing and/or travelling parallel to the Bessemer Ditch and introducing multiple potential disasters is very counter-productive to the Pueblo County Comprehensive Plan, not to mention our way of life. We respectfully ask that you deny this permit and help defend agriculture in Pueblo County. Thomas-S. Rusler M. Lynn Rusler Thomas W. ler Nicholas S. Rusler Rusle r ce, I Rusler Produce, Inc. sler Pr duc Inc. Rusler Produce, Inc. i