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containment boxes are also placed under all filters and filter presses. Water safety inspectors have <br /> confirmed that there are no drains in RFES' Facility and that the Facility is not connected to any <br /> sewer. The features should have been unsurprising to the inspectors given that the Facility was <br /> constructed for use as a chemical factory. <br /> 50. The DRMS inspectors observed numerous other tanks, equipment, and supplies <br /> stored in and around ancillary buildings and structures located on the Facility property. Based on <br /> the equipment found in one of the exterior buildings—equipment that DRMS believed included a <br /> kiln—DRMS concluded that RFES had been smelting metals at the Facility. <br /> 51. The equipment that DRMS described as a kiln is a furnace. RFES does not engage <br /> in any smelting. <br /> 52. Based on observations made during the inspection, DRMS concluded that it"ha[d] <br /> reason to believe" RFES was "engaged in a mining operation" without a reclamation permit in <br /> violation of Colo. Rev. Stat. § 34-32-109(2). DRMS indicated that the possible violation would be <br /> considered at the Board's August 17-18, 2022 meeting. <br /> 53. After completing the inspection,DRMS issued a cease-and-desist order prohibiting <br /> any person from "enter[ing] the site to operate the mill or to conduct unpermitted mining <br /> operations or related activities." DRMS represented that the cease-and-desist order was <br /> appropriate because of"the use of designated chemicals" at the Facility, "specifically cyanide, <br /> which pose a significant threat to human health and the environment." The cease-and-desist order <br /> does not contain any exceptions allowing RFES to use the Facility for aspects of RFES' business <br /> unrelated to the processing of mining waste. <br /> The Board's Order <br /> 54. On August 17, 2022, the Board heard presentations concerning the possible <br /> violation alleged in DRMS' inspection report. Emslie and Danio appeared on behalf of RFES. <br /> Cunningham, Means, Ebert, Musick, and First Assistant Attorney General Jeff Fugate appeared <br /> on DRMS' behalf. The parties submitted written materials to the Board and offered testimony via <br /> videoconference. <br /> 55. On September 1, 2022, the Board issued its Order. <br /> 56. In the Order's Findings of Fact,the Board determined that the ore stockpile located <br /> "along the [Facility's] driveway," was placed on the ground without any secondary containment. <br /> The Board's Order does not offer any citation for this conclusion or address evidence that RFES <br /> submitted describing the multiple layers of containment surrounding the ore stockpile. <br /> 57. The Board acknowledged that a third party, Cross Gold Mine, and not RFES, <br /> transported the mining waste to RFES' facility. <br /> 58. The Board acknowledged that DRMS had confirmed that one of the metal tanks at <br /> the Facility was empty and that there was no evidence that either of the other two metal tanks were <br /> - 8 - <br /> 4884-8560-1078.2 <br />