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Daniel G. Hobbs <br /> PO Box 411 Avondale, Colorado 81022 <br /> July 31, 2016 <br /> RECEIVED <br /> Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety <br /> 1313 Sherman Street Room 215 AUG 012016 <br /> Denver, CO. 80203 <br /> DIVISION OF RECLAMATION <br /> RE: Pueblo County Aggregate Project Amended Permit Application ObjectlI�INGAND SAFETY <br /> To Whom it may concern: <br /> Through this letter I am submitting my objection to Fremont Paving and Redi-Mix Inc's <br /> application for a regular (112) Construction Materials Operation Reclamation Permit for <br /> extraction of construction materials in Pueblo County, Colorado. <br /> I live and farm at 46000 Olson Road in Avondale, near the proposed permit site. I attended <br /> a public meeting in 2012 when Fremont Paving applied for and was denied a special use <br /> permit by Pueblo County.There was wide-spread community opposition at that time and it <br /> continues today, mainly because the proposed project location borders prime agricultural <br /> land. (Please see attached letter to Pueblo County Commissioners regarding incompatibility <br /> of production agriculture and industrial land uses). <br /> I understand there is high quality, easily accessible aggregate material in the hills where <br /> Fremont Paving wishes to set-up operations. But there is also high quality material in other <br /> parts of the river valley that is not adjacent to farms, agricultural ditches and laterals, and <br /> people's homes.The highest and best land use in the Avondale area is agriculture. Colorado <br /> State University Rocky Ford Research Center Director, Dr. Bartolo, recently asserted that <br /> farmland in Pueblo County is some of the Best in the western United States (Dr. Michael <br /> Bartolo, presentation in Pueblo Colorado, Nov 2015). <br /> I am extremely concerned that any reclamation efforts at the proposed site will be <br /> unsuccessful and insufficient due to our and climate and massive summer flood events that <br /> are all too common lately. I am not aware of any successful reclamation efforts in Pueblo or <br /> Otero Counties.The pits just outside of Rocky Ford are an example of poor re-vegetation <br /> results in this region. <br /> I also object to the project on the basis that agricultural infrastructure such as ditches, <br /> laterals, and even farm fields could be damaged during major rain run-off events during <br /> operations and after attempted reclamation.The Badger Hills carry a lot of water during <br /> big rains,the water has to go somewhere, and there is farmland all around.The thin buffer <br /> areas between the site and the Bessemer Ditch represented in Fremont Paving's <br /> application appear to be wholly inadequate.Attached please see photo of a 3" rainfall event <br /> in May of 2015 taken from my farm. The flood waters in this image originate in the Badger <br /> hills and are moving through the heart of the area's farmland and straight into the village of <br /> Avondale. In the past four years we have have had at least two rainfall events of 4" and 5" <br /> as well. The damage from these types of rains would undoubtedly be exacerbated coming <br /> from disturbed soils at the proposed mining site. <br />