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Page 2 <br />MINE ID OR PROSPECTING ID M19Rn1R3 <br />INSPECTION DATE 26 Aiigist 2009 INSPECTORS INITIALS ngZ <br />OBSERVATIONS <br />This inspection was conducted by David Bird and Tony Waldron of DRMS in response to complaints received <br />from seven members of the Zigan Homeowners Association an organization of homeowners who live around the <br />lake located southeast of the intersection of 126h Avenue and Brighton Road in Adams County The homeowners <br />and the lake are located south of Brannans Pit 29 The citizen complaints included wet crawl spaces inundated <br />leach fields and septic tanks submerged docks and recreational equipment and washed out beaches The <br />Division met Greg Gerganoff and Fred Marvel of Brannan Sand Gravel Company at the Brannan Pit 29 site on <br />26 August 2009 to explain the situation and discuss options <br />The citizens reported that they first started noticing elevated ground water and lake levels about four years ago <br />coincident with installation of slurry walls at Brannans Pit 29 and Lafarges Stagecoach Pit now operated by <br />Albert Frei and Sons Inc Frei DRMS believes that the two slurry walls have created a barrier to ground water <br />flow which is known to have a gradient in a northwesterly direction in this area The barrier prevents ground <br />water in the South Platte alluvium from following its natural course to the South Platte River This causes ground <br />water mounding and elevated water levels at the residences and in the Zigan Lake located hydrologically <br />u pgrad lent <br />DRMS considers the ground water mounding a problem and this has been cited on page 4 of this report <br />Specifically the ground water mounding problem constitutes a disturbance to the prevailing hydrologic balance of <br />the affected land and of the surrounding area and to the quantity of water in the groundwater systems during <br />mining If left unabated it could constitute a violation of 343251164h CRS of the Colorado Land <br />Reclamation Act for the Extraction of Construction Materials and Rule 3161 of the Mineral Rules and <br />Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for the Extraction of Construction Materials <br />If left unabated the mounding situation could further escalate to include offsite damage whereupon the problem <br />would become a violation of 343251164i CRS and Rule 6331 for failure to protect areas outside of the <br />affected land from being damaged during mining or reclamation operations <br />DRMS believes the solution to the problem must involve a means of relieving the mounding on the upgradient <br />side of the barrier to flow created by the two slurry walls Toward that end and as a long term solution Frei and <br />the Zigan homeowners have proposed a ditch draining the Zigan Lake at an elevation designed to prevent the lake <br />from exceeding some maximum level yet to be determined with the ultimate goal of preventing excessively high <br />water levels that could adversely impact the residences around the lake In the interim Frei has been pumping <br />water from the Zigan Lake and has lowered the lake level sufficiently that the immediate threat of property <br />damage has been alleviated DRMS is of the opinion that the Stagecoach pit and Pit 29 are equally to blame in <br />the creation of the mounding situation and therefore DRMS believes that the financial burden of abatement <br />should be shared equally by the two operators <br />If the ditch proves not to be feasible in the long term for whatever reason then the Operators must consider <br />alternative means of relieving the mounding situation The solution for this scenario will likely involve installation <br />of a French drain around at least one of the pits with the financial burden shared by both parties The longterm <br />abatement plan will require the submittal review and approval of either a Technical Revision or an Amendment <br />depending on the magnitude of the abatement prior to implementation