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July 5, 2024 RECEIVED <br /> Patrick Lennberg, Environmental Protection Specialist JUL 30 2024 <br /> Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety <br /> 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 Colorado Division of Reclamation, <br /> Denver, Colorado 80203 Mining and Safety <br /> Re: Comments on Coulson Excavating Company, Inc. —Amendment application for Kirtright Pit, <br /> Larimer County, Permit#M1986-123 <br /> Dear Mr. Lennberg: <br /> We are residents of the Thompson River Ranch and Thompson Crossing community. We are <br /> sending this letter in response to the call for comments regarding the Kirtright Pit amendment <br /> (Notice dated June 14, 2024, from Patrick Lennberg)filed by Coulson Excavating Company, Inc. <br /> (Coulson). Some of us live adjacent to the Kirtright Pit properties owned by Randy Kirtright and <br /> by Linda O'Brien; some of us live adjacent to the Stroh Pit property owned by the Coulson <br /> family, and some of us are adjacent to both, but all of us—well over 1,000 households — lie <br /> within a mile of these properties proposed to be used for an industrial mine. Although this <br /> amendment addresses the Kirtright Pit, Coulson has tied the fate of the Kirtright and Stroh Pits <br /> together and therefore we all have the potential to be impacted by this project. <br /> Larimer County approved the Stroh Pit Use by Special Review permit over the objections of the <br /> residents in the surrounding neighborhoods. But it has since come to our attention that the <br /> Stroh Pit USR application was based on false, or at least misleading, information regarding <br /> Coulson's right to use the Kirtright Pit property for the processing and storage of Stroh <br /> materials. It is our understanding that Linda O'Brien has not given Coulson permission to use <br /> her land for this purpose nor to allow access to, or across her property for a conveyor belt or for <br /> the 200 one-way haul truck trips per day— an average of one truck every 3 minutes. Even now, <br /> after this has come to light, Coulson continues to get a pass to move forward with complete <br /> disregard for the property owner's rights. And suddenly, in order to use Kirtright Pit for the Stroh <br /> Pit operation despite the property owner's objections, Coulson now claims they need Stroh Pit <br /> soil to reclaim Kirtright Pit (despite access to other nearby gravel operations they own to the <br /> east and west) and it just so happens it will take them seven more years to finish the Kirtright <br /> reclamation —the same time frame given to mine and reclaim the Stroh Pit. <br /> Perhaps even more disturbing than the consistently outdated and inaccurate paperwork (permit <br /> applications and annual reports) as well as the inconsistency between the plans submitted to <br /> the DRMS and Larimer County, are the number of code violations (including operating outside <br /> Kirtright Pit permit boundaries), delay tactics, and outright negligence on the part of Coulson <br /> Excavating. <br /> Of particular concern is the damage done to the O'Brien property and the unwillingness of <br /> Coulson to correct the damage and finish reclamation. The DRMS sends Coulson letters with <br /> corrective actions to be taken which Coulson, time after time, fails to fully complete, or ignores, <br /> with little or no consequences, resulting in DRMS eventually giving in to Coulson's wants. (For <br /> example, Coulson violates the original Kirtright Pit permit boundary and simply asks for an <br /> amendment after the fact to extend the boundary of the permit.) Failure to reclaim the Kirtright <br /> Pit properties 16 years after mining was completed and the inability of the DRMS to hold <br /> Coulson accountable are certainly reasons for us to question how well Coulson will follow the <br /> conditions listed in the County's USR permit for Stroh Pit. And since there is no guaranteed <br />