2016-04-19_PERMIT FILE - M2016010 (10)

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Water Supply: All residents in Ridgewood Estates and surounding nieghbors along the Highway 115 corridor depend on ground water for their domestic water supply. These wells likely depend on the fracture system within the granitic rock for water supply,while wells in the adjacent upturned sedimentary rocks may depend upon both these fracture systems and infiltration along the granite- sedimentary rock boundary for recharge. This situation makes such wells dependent on the quality of the recharging surface water and highly susceptible to contamination. The Heavy rains of 2014 prooved this when many of our wells water changed color to tea like,due to the increased run off that shocked the aquiphor. Despite the fact that many of these wells receive water from over 200 feet below the suface,the color change remained for several months.Contamination from mining operations can travel very quickly through the fracture system to affect domestic wells. The very geology and topography of the proposed Hitch Rack Ranch Quarry site makes such effects exceedingly difficult to predict. Further,the effect from blasting operations(which Transit Mix proposes to conduct two or three times each week) on the fracture system will likely exacerbate the problem, and is equally difficult to predict. In 1996 when we experienced an aftershock of an earth quake,several wells in our community had a drastic reduction in water production or had to be abandoned. Wildlife: An independent and objective wildlife study needs to be completed, rather than accept questionable statements by the applicant. The proposed quarry site is adjacent to and contiguous with the Aiken Canyon Preserve(managed by the Nature Conservancy of Colorado), and included as part of the Aiken Canyon Potential Conservation Area. This area is identified by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program as a B2 site—Very High significance. It should be noted that the Nature Conservancy shares our opposition to the quarry permit. The quarry site is an area rich in wildlife. It lies between large concentrations of wildlife in the federal lands to the west and Fort Carson to the east, and serves as a major migration route between the two ecotypes. It is inhabited by a great diversity and in some cases high density of wildlife. Most notably,the site is mapped by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as Critical Potential Conservation Habitat for the Mexican Spotted Owl, a federally listed threatened species. The Mexican Spotted Owl has been documented in the immediate area. The applicant's statement that"turkeys are not common in the mining area" is ludicrous.Anyone who frequents this area knows it harbors one of the largest concentrations of turkeys in this part of Colorado. Sighting of turkeys is an almost daily occurrence here.Turkeys,in particular,are intolerant of industrial operations such as mining. Colorado Parks and Wildlife identifies the proposed quarry site as a primary elk residence and migration area. More than 100 species of birds have been documented using the area, and the stream corridors are known to be important movement areas for wide-ranging animals such as mountain lions, black bear, mule deer, and elk. There are unconfirmed reports of the presence of Canada Lynx, an endangered species recently reintroduced into Colorado, in the area. The proposed mining plan does not appear to provide an adequate buffer to protect the use of intermittent stream corridors by these sensitive species. Vegetation: The vegetation analysis sections of the application contain several inaccuracies. The quarry site provides high quality foothills plant communities that are rapidly being converted to development north and south of this area. The dry(xeric)tallgrass sites along the Front Range are also rarely found in the high quality condition in evidence at this site. It contains excellent to good examples of globally-imperiled mountain mahogany/needlegrass community, an excellent occurrence of globally vulnerable pinon pine/Scribner needlegrass community, as well as an excellent occurrence of mesic oak thicket community. The lodgepole pine and blue spruce mentioned repeatedly in the application do not appear in significant numbers, while the white pine, which is very common at the site, is not mentioned at all. 2