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Comment/Objection Narrative* <br /> To The DRMS— <br /> I am a local business owner and local resident in Leadville CO. My shop operates as a ski shop in the winter <br /> and a fly shop with guiding services in the summer. I am permitted to conduct guided fly fishing trips in the <br /> Upper Arkansas River Valley, including the headwaters of the Arkansas River. I also have a Recreation Lease <br /> with the Colorado State Land Board on the Arkansas River.This letter is in opposition of the milling operation <br /> proposed by CJK Milling. <br /> The Upper Arkansas River Valley has experienced terrible contamination in the past,generated from mining <br /> activity in California Gulch and its outlying areas.This contamination was so extensive that it was eventually <br /> designated as an EPA Superfund Site.Subsequently,there was a monumental effort to clean up this <br /> contamination through water treatment,soil remediation/encapsulation,and habitat improvement/enhancement <br /> throughout the Upper Arkansas River corridor.This was an effort that was no small feat and took decades to <br /> achieve. <br /> The result of the clean-up was amazing. It took a river that could barely sustain any kind of productive <br /> ecosystem and turned it into one of the most popular rivers for recreation in the state.The clean-up was so <br /> successful that the Arkansas River is now designated by Colorado Parks and Wildlife as Gold Medal Water <br /> which means this is one of the highest quality cold water habitats in the state.The headwaters of the Arkansas <br /> River now boasts a 102 mile stretch of Gold Medal Water,from the Lake Fork confluence to Parkdale,which <br /> makes it the longest stretch of Gold Medal Water in the state.The river corridor is also host to Browns Canyon <br /> National Monument,and a plethora of recreation opportunities including,fishing,whitewater rafting, hiking, <br /> biking,camping, rock climbing,etc.These opportunities generate well over a million visitors to the corridor each <br /> year,with an annual economic impact of tens of millions of dollars to the local communities. It doesn't make any <br /> sense to allow a milling operation to compromise the environmental viability of the valley,and potentially <br /> destroy everything that has been done over the last several decades to make the valley beautiful,vibrant,and <br /> prosperous. <br /> Further,this mill poses various threats to the health and safety to our community members.These threats <br /> include air quality,water quality,and noise and traffic issues.The disturbance of tailings and the generation of <br /> dust by moving them to the milling site are very concerning,and will affect the air and water quality of the area. <br /> This undoubtedly will lead to our air and water being exposed to heavy metals and arsenic,which, in turn, <br /> exposes the local residents to adverse health risks including a variety of respiratory and pulmonary disease, <br /> cancer,and a range of other ailments.Our residents will also be subjected to an inordinate amount of truck <br /> traffic on an already heavily used thoroughfare on Highway 24.This will create an intolerable amount of noise <br /> and cause traffic congestion on the highway leading to the southern gateway of town.The congestion the mill's <br /> traffic pattern will create is also a dangerous situation with regards to the large amount of bike and pedestrian <br /> traffic that the town incurs.This heavy truck traffic also, inevitably,will have a detrimental impact on the city and <br /> county's roads and bridges which will end up causing the taxpayers of Lake County the financial burden of the <br /> supplemental maintenance of these assets. <br /> All in all,there is little to no benefit that this milling project has to our community,and the communities that <br /> neighbor us.The threat of catastrophic calamity and the harm that would cause far outweighs any benefit that <br /> this operation is proposing. Please deny this and any other application that CJK milling may introduce in relation <br /> to this type of activity in Leadville/Lake County. <br /> Tim Hill <br /> Colorado Fly Fishing Guides <br /> A Division of Alpine Ski&Sport LLC <br /> 504 Harrison Ave <br /> Leadville CO 80461 <br /> Permit Number* <br /> Enter valid letter and then numbers,for example M1977999, M1999777UG or C1981201. <br /> M1990057 <br /> Permitting Action Type <br /> Select revision type or leave blank if comment pertains to a new permit application or NOI <br /> Permit Type <br />