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During CONSTRUCTION,there will be intensive activity at the mine site, along the power line,water supply
<br /> system including pump stations and access road corridors. Different type of heavy machinery,vehicles and
<br /> power generators driven by diesel engines will be used. No detailed inventory of construction equipment was
<br /> listed in the application and needs to be.Typical mine construction activities include site preparation,
<br /> earthworks construction,erection of plant buildings, process equipment installation,access roads construction,
<br /> pipe laying,and erection of transmission line, blasting.Construction phase noise impacts would result largely
<br /> from noise generated by mechanized equipment such as loaders, bulldozers,side booms,generators,and
<br /> trucks. For specific construction activities, like blasting, pipe welding, utility poles and power lines installation,
<br /> additional equipment and service personnel will be temporarily present at the site. It is unknown how much of
<br /> the construction activities will take place at nighttime and this needs to be discussed in their application.
<br /> During OPERATIONS, noise will be generated by heavy vehicles and equipment associated with mining,ore
<br /> and waste movement,ore processing and storage. Mobile noise sources include shovels,drills,trucks,
<br /> excavators,graders,and supporting vehicles.Stationary noise sources comprise crushers, mills,screens,
<br /> pumps,and conveyers. Offsite infrastructure noise sources could comprise continuously operated intake and
<br /> booster pump stations,and supply/service vehicles on access roads.
<br /> The closure phase of the mine will be dominated by reclamation activities,and therefore noise will primarily be
<br /> associated with vehicles and activities associated with the decommissioning of the mine site,such as
<br /> dismantling infrastructure, land restoration, re-vegetation,access and haul road decommissioning and ongoing
<br /> monitoring.
<br /> Project activities and resulting noise levels will vary continuously for the duration of the mine. For this reason,a
<br /> worst-case scenario must be shown and analyzed by the applicant.A full list of equipment considered as
<br /> potential noise sources needs to be listed by the applicant.
<br /> Cumulative Impacts
<br /> Abandoned Mines
<br /> Before the County, State or BLM even think about authorizing a new hard rock(gold)mine in the
<br /> mountains/foothills a few miles south of Canon City,they first need to address the huge numbers of abandoned
<br /> hard rock mines throughout Fremont County, Colorado,and the West. In Fremont County alone there are,
<br /> according to the USGS Mineral Resources Data System,over two hundred abandoned mine sites.Across the
<br /> state of Colorado there are an estimated 23,000 abandoned mine sites on both public and private land.The
<br /> General Accounting Office(GAO)in March 2020 said that the Forest Service, BLM,the Park Service,and EPA
<br /> identified in their databases at least 140,652 abandoned hard rock mine features(defined as a shaft,structures,
<br /> spoil piles,tunnels,etc.)as of May 2019.Of this amount, BLM identified 103,029 features and the Park Service
<br /> identified 20,675 features.The Forest Service identified 16,375 sites and EPA identified 573 sites.According to
<br /> agency officials, many abandoned hard rock mine sites contain more than one feature. Since there is no
<br /> agreed-upon average number of features per site,the GAO counted the minimum of one feature per Forest
<br /> Service and EPA site for the purpose of their analysis.As a result,the total number of features identified by
<br /> federal agencies was underestimated.
<br /> Of the 140,652 total features,about 89,000 features are known to pose or may pose a physical safety or
<br /> environmental hazard, according to information in the federal agencies'databases. Specifically,agencies
<br /> •confirmed 7,802 features pose a hazard,of which 6,439 pose a physical safety hazard and 1,363 pose an
<br /> environmental hazard: and
<br /> •identified 81,541 features with an unconfirmed hazard (whereby agency staff had not assessed current
<br /> conditions in person to confirm the hazard),of which 60,279 may pose a physical safety hazard and 21,262
<br /> may pose an environmental hazard. However,agency officials said there could be 393,000 more abandoned
<br /> hard rock mine features on federal land that the agencies identified on historic maps but have not captured in
<br /> their central databases. In addition, BLM officials estimated there are about 380,000 abandoned hard rock mine
<br /> features on the land BLM manages that are not captured in its abandoned mine database. Park Service officials
<br /> did not estimate a number of additional abandoned mines that might be in Park Service units;they said they
<br /> believe their database is comprehensive.Given the Forest Service and BLM estimates of additional features
<br /> not found in their databases,the total number of estimated and identified abandoned hard rock mine features
<br /> on lands within Forest Service, BLM, Park Service,and EPA jurisdiction is at least 533,652. It is estimated that
<br /> the total cleanup costs for these mines will be 54 billion dollars. Hardrock mining companies, however,are not
<br /> required to pay anything to address this legacy of their industry. It is also interesting to note that 2.6 billion
<br /> dollars in taxpayer money were spent cleaning up abandoned hard rock mines between 1998 and 2007(GAO)
<br /> and that 300 billion dollars worth of minerals(under the auspices of the Mining Law of 1872)have been
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