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^~ SENT B1': ENV IRON DEFENSE, <br />1 .. f. `~: <br />•-25-96 B:t5AM~ 3034408052 ~> <br />III IIIIIIIII IIII III <br />999 <br />FRIENDS OF ELDORA VALLEY <br />P.O. Box 353 <br />303 832 8106, #2/3 <br />Nederland, CO 80466 <br />(303) 258-7957 <br />RECEIVED BY FAX <br />Mined Land Reclamation Hoard <br />f)epartment of"Natural Resoun:rs JAN 2 3 1996 <br />1313 Sherman St. <br />L)cnver, CO 8U2U3 DMu <br />Dear Board, <br />Friends ol'Eldora Valley, a nonprofit citi~cns b~oup, is vitally wncrmed with the <br />Mine Land Reclamation Doard's decisions alTccting Colina Oro Molina's (COM Inc. <br />operation of its mill at Gold Flill. <br />Ft: V fears that continuins patience wish CUM int.'s chmme noncompliance +vith <br />tltc law will set a precedent difficult to reverse in the state's oversight of the Mogul <br />'t'unnel in Eldora. <br />Durango Met ls, which has applied for a pcrtnit to mine the Mogul Tunnel, is <br />headed by Thames Hartley, who was responsible for the operation of the Gold Hill Mill <br />when the tailinbrs pond overtlowrd in May:' June 1995, spilling an estimated 10,U0(1 cubic <br />leer of waste water into Cash Gulch-'`hc MLR13 had already, on March 1, 1995, issued to <br />COM Inc. a cease-and-desist order triggered by an earlier (fold Bill pond overFlow'. <br />13c1ore chat order, the llivision of minerals and Gt:trlogy had sent l lartlcy a partial <br />transcript of the Doa{d`s January- 1995 hearing on the (fold hill opc;ration. One board <br />member was quoted! "I desperately hope wr are not going to see Mr. "Tatman or <br />somebody back here. l wish we had back the moncw we spent listening to lttis stutl'aver <br />how•cvcr many years." <br />Another board member expressed the hope that "my nighnnare doesn't come true <br />and we can't conic back here with another cast of characters next month." If that <br />happened, hr would favor "ending this tnaticr immediately by simpl}' revoking this <br />permit." <br />Uric year after that Board meeting, the recurring "nighnnare" is still coming true. <br />Why, then, does the Board not'~end this maucr immediately by simply rovukmg this <br />permit?" <br />At the November 1995 hearing, after a whole series of deadlines had not been met <br />by C~OM. loc., at least one board member suggested that the Board at its I)cccmber <br />meeting rc~uke the Gold I-till Mill permit unless another new deadline was mrt.'1'hat <br />