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reclamation permit,water discharged from the Cross Mine is treated with lime,settled in <br /> a pond.and then mixed with water flowing from the Caribou Mine before discharge to <br /> Coon Track Creek.Before mining and reclamation activities re-started at the site,this <br /> water treatment system seemed to have been effective in helping water from the Cross <br /> Mine meet discharge standards set by the Operator's discharge permit with WQCD. <br /> 22. According to testimony from the Division, the water quality issues began <br /> when a collapse in the Idaho Tunnel choked off the comparatively cleaner water flow <br /> from the Caribou Mine. The water quality issues are the result of the Operator's mining <br /> operation, including rehabilitation and reclamation, at the site. The Division seamed of <br /> the collapse of the Idaho Tunnel from WQCD on February 4, 2020,and received some <br /> additional details from the Operator's February 5, 2020 Compliance Response and in <br /> the request for TR-5 on April 29, 2020, although further communication as to the extent <br /> of the collapse was lacking. Operator had also not informed the Division of or sought <br /> approval for the alternative water treatment systems it had tried in 2021. The lack of <br /> communication from Operator to the Division was a pattern that started in 2020 after the <br /> death of Mr. Hendricks and the transition to new management. <br /> 23. Operator presented testimony regarding the circumstances at the site and <br /> its efforts to address the water quality discharge issue. Operator presented testimony <br /> that the levels set in its WQCD permit were set to aquatic life rather than drinking water <br /> standards, and that exceedances were still below levels set for drinking water.The <br /> aquatic life standards are generally more stringent that drinking water standards. <br /> 24. Operator also presented argument that WCQD, not the Division or Board, <br /> had sole authority to enforce violations of WQCD imposed discharge limits at the site. <br /> 25. Operator did not present evidence to dispute that outflow from the mines <br /> exceeded its WQCD discharge permit. Rather, Operators expert witness, Greg Miller, <br /> admitted that there were ongoing water quality issues but stated that there was no <br /> threat to human health and that Operator was diligently working to address the issue. <br /> Operator's expert stated his opinion that the low levels of metallics in the discharges <br /> could not threaten wells or water supplies miles downstream or in other drainages as <br /> Coon Track Creek was a gaining stream, resulting in further dilution of trace metallics <br /> already being discharged within safe drinking water limits. <br /> 26. Operator presented testimony explaining that because the threshold <br /> amounts set by its discharge permit were so low,testing discharge water required <br /> sending samples to off-site labs for processing.The low amounts of minerals at issue <br /> has also made finding functional alternative water treatment processes difficult because <br /> meeting the limits requires a high level of filtering and treatment; many types of <br /> equipment will treat to drinking water standards and could not treat to the parts per <br /> billion standards set for aquatic life. Operator has been working on doing so and had <br /> already tried one system that failed to perform as warranted in treating discharge water. <br /> Grand Island Resources LLC, <br /> M-1977-410 <br /> MV-2021-017 4 <br />