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January 18, 2022 <br />Sent Via Email and DRMS Objection Intake Tool <br />Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Drms_info@state.co.us <br />Re: Objection to Application to Convert Permit No. M1976-007UG <br />To Whom It May Concern: <br />My home on Pine Ridge rd. has experienced persistent water contamination problems since we <br />moved here. Arsenic, Thallium, and Selenium are present at several times (100x in some cases) <br />the EPA MCL guidelines in water wells located on both the East and West side of Pine Ridge <br />road. I have analyzed water samples from many of my neighbors' wells and performed leachant <br />tests on some of the formation rocks using EPA methods and laboratory services at Colorado <br />Department of Public Health and Environment and Colorado School of Mines (where a study of <br />the water contamination was started in 2018). <br />The spatial distribution of the contaminants in the water wells does not correlate with the <br />geochemistry of the various formation rocks the wells are drilled in. This is perplexing, and I've <br />often wondered if underground structures from past mining efforts are responsible for the <br />contaminant spatial distribution. Further, in the research literature, these excessive contaminant <br />concentrations are not typically observed unless someone chewed up some rock to make them <br />mobile in the water table. Clays are often the source rock for these contaminants (particularly <br />Thallium) in aquifers. <br />Given the 160 year history of Acme Brick Company's operations in the area, I've often wondered <br />what their past mining operations entailed - but with no data about their operations, I can only <br />guess. Considering the widely known contamination problems in the area, I was surprised to <br />see so little attention given to their water disposal plan and no accounting of the geochemistry <br />for the mined rock. <br />The mine proposal is missing data that prevents reviewers from making informed decisions <br />about the safety of the proposed mine expansion. <br />The purpose of this letter is twofold: (1) to request that Acme Brick Company share the <br />mineralogy and element analyses of the mined geology, including interburden and overburden <br />members (2) to request that Acme Brick Company share a more detailed hydrologic model with <br />the features that were neglected in their filing. Each of these issues is addressed in turn below. <br />1.For each geologic unit described in 6.4.4 Exhibit D - Mining Plan - page 12-15: ICP-MS <br />data for all elements, mineralogy descriptions, sodicity, and acid forming characteristics