2017-02-09_ENFORCEMENT - M1991037 (2)

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4. On December 21, 2016, the Division mailed the Operator a signed copy of the Reason to Believe a Violation Exists letter. The Division's letter provided notice regarding the alleged violations and information about the January 25, 2017 hearing. S. The mining pldrr for permit nunibei M-1991-037 States drat the affezted lands would be limited to areas which were historically disturbed and free of vegetation, with no removal of timber. 6 On January 11, 2016, the Division received a letter from Ren I,angenfeld of Greg Lewicki and Associates on behalf of the Operator, stating; "High Speed Mining acknowledges that some activity has taken place south Of tile southern permit boundary of the current permit. This is the only area of outside the permit disturbance that has taken place on site, as shown on the attached site map. It is roughly 1.7 acres." 7. At the hearing, Mr. Langenfeld testified that the Operator admits that land outside the permit boundary was disturbed, hilt disputes the amount of land disturhed beyond the permit boundary. The Operator testified that the amount of disturbed land is not more than 1.7 acres, The Operator testified that it did not hire a professional land surveyor to stake the permit boundary_ 8. The Division testified at the hearing that the southern boundary represented on a photograph from the Operator is too Far south of Elie actual lLne, which accounts for the Operator's belief that only 1.7 acres has been disturbed. 9. The Division testified that it spent ten hours on this matter, at the cost of 556.64 an hour, incurring costs of S567.00 in the investigation of the violation. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 10. The Board has Jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act for die Extraction of Cunstruction Materials, Article 32.5 of Title 34, C.R.S. (2016). 11. Section 34-32.5-109(1), C.R.S provides that "before engaging in a new operation, an operator shall first obtain from the board or office a reclamation permit." By disturbing 2.4 acres of land beyond the approved permit boundary, the Operator engaged in a new operation without first obtaining a permit, in violation of section 34-32.5-109(1), C.R.S. 12. Pursuant to section 34-32.5-123(1), C.R.S., the Board may issue a cease and desist order when it finds that an uperator has failed to ubtain a valid perinit. 13. The Board may impose a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 per day or more than $5,000 per day for each day during which a violation occurs, C.R.S. § 34-32.5-123(2) (2016), Here, the Board may impose a penalty based on thirty-five (35) days of violation 1-11911 Speed Mining, LLC Katuska Pit/M-1991-037 MV -2017-001 2