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Your Phone Number* <br /> Used only to follow up. <br /> 7207853377 <br /> Extension <br /> Alternate Phone Number <br /> Used only to follow up. <br /> Alternate Phone Extension <br /> Connection to Operation <br /> Select all that apply <br /> Land Owner of affected land Structure Owner within 200' of affected land <br /> Mineral Owner ✓ Nearby Resident <br /> Adjacent Land Owner ✓ Concerned Citizen <br /> Government Agency Other <br /> DESCRIPTION OF COMMENT OR OBJECTION <br /> as specific as possioi(, 7 <br /> Comment/Objection Narrative <br /> Dear Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety decision makers, <br /> PLEASE do not approve the Zephyr Gold USA Ltd mining permit application(mining permit No: M2021046)! <br /> The application does not include sufficient provisions to address short-or long-term risks and reclamation,lacks <br /> adequate environmental impact assessments,and does not make sense in terms of public risk versus public <br /> benefit. I ask you to please consider the information below for each of these three points as part of your <br /> decision-making. <br /> 1)Risks and Reclamation <br /> Water risks-The mine site at 6,500 feet elevation is 1,000 feet higher elevation than Grape Creek and the <br /> Arkansas River. It is upstream from the water plant intake for Fremont County.Any discharge from mining <br /> operations will find its way to the aquifers underground and/or the water flows.The mining operation would use <br /> approximately 65,000,000 gallons of water per year and an unspecified amount of chemicals.With the site just <br /> 1,000 feet above the Grape Creek and Arkansas River area,this creates the potential for pollution of the water <br /> for present and future generations. <br /> The demand for underground aquifers have been estimated in the permit as"insignificant"but there is no <br /> monitoring or measures to be sure that the demand is having an"insignificant"impact. <br /> Zephyr claims:"Not a single forest fire in the USA has been traced back to or been attributed to a modern <br /> mining operation."and"The mine operation will manage process water and stormwater.The mill process water <br /> will flow through a closed recycling system with very little discharge if any."How many unexpected disasters <br /> have resulted from mining?It is certainly possible that the proposed Dawson Gold Mine could be yet another <br /> disaster in the making. <br /> Fire risks-The permit is non-specific in the amount of water reserved for fire mitigation. It states"sufficient." <br /> There is no Fire Protection plan associated with the current application. How could government entities approve <br /> the permit without assurance of being able to mitigate a fire before it becomes a wildfire?The mine location is in <br /> a juniper forest,a semi-arid climate that is essentially a tinder box. <br /> There would be"approximately 13,000 pounds of explosives on site for up to a week of blasting activity... <br /> replenished weekly".Adding explosives to an area already a tinder box for a wildfire could create a wildfire that <br /> wipes out the entire region particularly without an established fire protection plan.Why incur this risk? <br />