2020-01-28_ENFORCEMENT - M2018051 (6)

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5. The Division received two more objection letters on May 9, 2019 from Equus Farms, Inc. and Bijou Irrigation District. 6. Applicant submitted its 112c permit application amendment (AM-01) on June 10, 2019. 7. AM-01 proposes a permitted area of 2,215.59 acres with 1,796 of affected acres. The Application's mining plan calls for phased operations with concurrent reclamation using conventional surface mining operations. No blasting will take place under the mining plan. Applicant will not to mine into the groundwater table by staying at least two feet above ground water and will not conduct any mining activity above the Hay Gulch Aquifer. The Application and AM- 01 designate a post-mining use of rangeland. 8. AM-01 was deemed complete by the Division on July 11, 2019. 9. During the review period, the Division generated two adequacy review letters. The Applicant addressed all of the Division's adequacy issues to the Division's satisfaction. 10. On October 9, 2019, based on the applicable requirements of the Colorado Land Reclamation Act for the Extraction of Construction Materials, Article 32.5 of Title 34, C.R.S. ("Act") and the Rules, the Division issued and served on all parties both a written recommendation for approval of AM-01 over objections and a written rationale for that recommendation. 11. On October 31, 2019, the Board, through a prehearing officer, conducted a prehearing conference in Denver, Colorado. The prehearing officer issued a draft prehearing order. Among other things, the draft prehearing order identified three issues for the parties to present to the Board for consideration: the mining and reclamation plans, hydrology, and wildlife. At the hearing, the Board considered the draft prehearing order and invited amendments or adjustments to be proposed by the parties. The Board adopted the draft prehearing order as presented with amendments to times allotted to the parties for presentations. 12. At the November 13, 2019 hearing, Applicant presented evidence regarding the issues identified in the prehearing order. Regarding its mining and reclamation plans, Applicant presented testimony that its mining plan calls for the use of open pit mining with no crushing or blasting at the site. Applicant will maintain a 200-foot buffer around the boundary of the permitted area. Regarding its reclamation plan, Applicant presented testimony that it would be conducting concurrent reclamation during the approximate 35-year life of the mine contemplated by its mining plan, which includes phased mining. Applicant will store long-term stock piles of top soil to the west of buildings on the site, which is intended to protect Black Mountain Sand Weld LLC Lost Creek Mine/M-2018-051 2