Laserfiche WebLink
Comment/Objection Narrative* <br /> I am the closest land owner adjacent to the Gold Hill Mill. I own three patented mining claims that share the <br /> access from Sunshine Canyon Drive to the property that is the subject of this Colorado Mined Land <br /> Reclamation Permit Amendment.The purpose of this Permit Amendment is to obtain a Designated Mining <br /> Operation Reclamation Permit for the already permitted Gold Hill Mill.An essential part of the current <br /> Application for DMO status is a Emergency Response Plan to safely and promptly deal with any spills or leaks <br /> of the chemicals and reagents that will be stored and used during flotation operations inside the mill building <br /> and discharged into the lined and permitted tailings pond. Unlike most of the people who are objecting to this <br /> Permit Amendment, I have actually read the Permit Amendment that is seeking DMO status. It is designed to <br /> protect the environment and the communities of Gold Hill and Summerville.Are the people objecting to this <br /> Amendment to the Gold Hill Mill Permit really opposed to being protected by this additional layer of operational <br /> and environmental protection and DRMS oversight?This Permit Amendment does not deal with the waterline to <br /> Left Hand Creek or the underground water stored in the Times and Wynona Mines.Those subjects were <br /> addressed and approved when the Amendment to this 110 Permit was granted by the Mined Land Reclamation <br /> Board. <br /> This milling facility has been operated over many years by several different permitted operators.Water has <br /> been stored behind the Times Mine bulkhead for more than thirty-five years. If any resident of Gold Hill has <br /> "suffered"a lower water supply in one of their wells,why haven't they brought this problem to the attention of <br /> the owners of the Gold Hill Mill or the DRMS?Has anyone with a water well in Gold Hill or Summerville ever <br /> experienced any degradation to the quality of the water in their wells? Has a single person in Gold Hill, <br /> Summerville or Left Hand Creek ever presented any water samples to the DRMS that showed their drinking <br /> water was polluted or degraded by anything any operator of the Gold Hill Mill did during the last four decades? I <br /> am sure that the DRMS or the Boulder County Health Department would have a record of this if it had actually <br /> occurred during the many years that this operation was being regulated by the State of Colorado. <br /> Mr. Robert de Haas is the Manager of the Pine Brook Water District. He commissioned an Environmental <br /> Report on the Colorado Milling Company's permitted operations.This very thorough and professional <br /> examination of the permitted operations of this company was filed with the DRMS in 2017.The author of this <br /> report concluded that,"as long as these mines and milling operations are properly permitted and operated <br /> within the limits of those permits,and in a safe manner,the mine and milling operations would be of low risk to <br /> Four Mile Creek water quality."The very object of the Colorado Milling Company's Application for an <br /> Amendment to obtain DMO status is to operate the Gold Hill Mill in a properly permitted and safe manner within <br /> the limits of its permits. Surely, Mr. de Haas must recognize that obtaining DMO status is a requirement for the <br /> Colorado Milling Company to abide by all of the Rules and Regulations governing mining operations in <br /> Colorado. I would think that he would appreciate the additional effort on the part of this company to obtain this <br /> Permit Amendment.As for the more than 200 homes located along Four Mile Creek that have shallow wells, <br /> does he have a single water sample from any of these wells that can honestly demonstrate that the permitted <br /> mines and mill subject to this Permit Amendment have ever contaminated a single one of these water wells? <br /> The nearest water wells to the Gold Hill Mill in the Four Mile Creek drainage are located in Summerville. Does <br /> Mr.de Haas have any water samples from the owners of any of these water wells that shows they have been <br /> contaminated by any of the milling activities conducted at the Gold Hill Mill?Since Summerville is the first <br /> location downstream from the Gold Hill Mill that would experience any degradation of the quality of the water in <br /> Four Mile Creek,this is the logical location to look for contamination.There are no water wells in Summerville or <br /> anywhere else that have ever been adversely affected by the operations conducted at the Gold Hill Mill during <br /> the decades that it has been in existence. <br /> I am fully informed about the purpose of this Permit Amendment and completely in favor of it being approved by <br /> the Mined Land Reclamation Board. <br /> Permit Number* <br /> Enter valid letter and then numbers,for example M1977999, M1999777UG or C1981201. <br /> M1994117 <br /> Permitting Action Type <br /> Amendment <br /> Select revision type or leave blank if comment pertains to a new permit application or NOI <br /> Permitting Action Sequence* <br /> 10 <br />