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RECEIVED RU APR 2 3 2013 DIVISION OF RECLAMATION To whom it may concern, MINING AND SAFETY I wish to express mvextremeopposition to the proposed construction-material reclamation and mining project in the agriculturally zoned Derr Pit,located at or nearSection 4,Township 5, Range 65 West of the 6th Prime Meridian(Weld County Planning Services case#1MUSR16-08-1660). The project is proposed by Broken Arrow Investments,LLC.(801 8th Street,Suite 130, Greeley,CO 80631), and it would involve the grinding of reclaimed concrete and asphaltforthe next 15 years(June,2018 and until December,2033) in agricultural zoning within less than 100 feet of multiple occupied homes. In the interest of protecting the public,I implore you to oppose the proposed reclamation from being carried out because of the severe harm that the miningeffortwill inevitably cause to human health,quality of life,and livestock. My chief concern is that the process of grinding concrete produces and releases large quantities of fine silica dust particles.Breathing in this silica dust can result in dangerous,irreversible,untreatable, and possibly fatal diseases.The fine silica particles penetrate deep into the lungs where they can cause silicosis,lung cancer,tuberculosis,and COPD,and silica exposure has been linked to renal disease and other cancers.Each and every particle of silica to which one is exposed increases the total load of silica in the lungs,and thus regular exposure compounds an individual's lung damage.Damage can be also be caused without longterm exposure.As you might imagine,living fora proposed 15 years just literally paces from a large-scale source of silica dust feels like a death sentence. My concerns are worsened because of the detrimental effects to quality of life,health,and livestock that we have experienced as a result of the gravel mining operation currently being carried out by Broken Arrow Investments in the Loloff Pit(directlyacrossthe street from the Derr Pit).Dust from the pit and trucks coat our homes with such regularity that it accumulates on our lawn and garden plants,and we consequently have to"wash"ourvegetable garden,not to clean the fruit,but to clean dust from the leaves.Our chicken's nares are coated with dust and some are even completely clogged. We must wear surgical masks or handkerchiefs when we doyardworkto be less choked by dust;it has become routine.Ourauto dealership noted that we needed to replace the airfilters in our new vehicle at nearly half the mileage than expected,and this is due to the Loloff Pit's dust.Our homes need regular vacuuming and dusting more than anywhere I've lived previously;opening windows let's dust into our home.When I recently sat my food outside in the cold while defrosting my freezer,a layer of dust had accumulated on everything in just 3 or 4 hours.Transient dust is a regular part of our lives,and we have suffered through this patiently with the hope that once operations at the Loloff Pit stop soon,we will be free of the nightmare.However,we have recently lost that hope with the prospect of continued mining operations in such close proximity to our home for a furtherl5 years and the fact that the grinding of concrete is a much more harmful process than gravel mining.We are in despair. My wife has asthma and fibromyalgia,and chemicals and dust worsen herfibromyalgia symptoms causing her more pain.Our senior,widowed friend,Diana,has COPD.I have needed to go to the doctor for years and have no diagnosis,but I have felt the effects of the Loloff Pit's dust on my respiratory health.I even feel it in my chest now as I write this.My wife and Diana are particularly vulnerable to the proposed project at the Derr Pit,but the detrimental effects it will have on the health of everyone living nearby are undeniable. Please help us, Rrenan Wilson 1'