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<br />Voss, Joseph W. Dyjak and Lowell Lester and having further considered cross-examination and <br />rebuttal/closing statements and having reviewed documents submitted in evidence; and having <br />conducted public deliberation, the Board rules as follows: <br />FINDINGS OF FACT <br />1. The Applicant Ferd Mueller ("Mueller") owns the mineral rights through a mineral <br />lease from the State Land Board to 640 acres in the azea known as Section 36, Township 21 <br />South, Range 68 West, 6th P.M. Pueblo County, CO, lying west and south of Pueblo, Colorado. <br />Mueller has been blasting to crack and lift slabs of rock since 1959 and in 1976 was granted a <br />permit to mine 10 acres. <br />2. Because of disturbances outside the permit area, a cease and desist order was issued in <br />March 1997. The Application now before the Board encompasses an area of 329 acres, much of <br />which is to be held in reserve for future mining operations. <br />3. From 1876 to 1994, the surface rights of this mining site were owned by the State <br />Land Boazd. In 1994, the Land Board sold its surface rights and transferred them as a land swap <br />to Red Creek Ranch, which is privately owned. This land was then subdivided in 1994 and sold <br />to five separate landowners. <br />4. Mueller's mineral lease predates the transfer of the surface estate from the Land Boazd <br />to Red Creek Ranch and travelled with the transfer. <br />5. The testimony and exhibits presented by Mueller and the Division are credible and <br />persuasive on the issue of completeness and sufficiency of Mueller's mining petmit Application. <br />6. The testimony and exhibits and legal argument presented by Mueller and the Division <br />are credible and persuasive regarding both Mueller's intention to permit an area far beyond that <br />which is immediately slated for mining operations and his willingness to be bound by the <br />conditions and stipulations involving blasting, hydrology and cultural and historic resources, set <br />forth in the Preheazing Conference Order and discussed and amended at the formal public <br />hearing. <br />7. The testimony and exhibits and legal argument presented by Mueller and the Division <br />are persuasive on the advisability of requiring Mueller to refrain from all mining operations <br />within 200 feet of the center line of the Peck Creek tributary (the "buffer zone") until he submits <br />a blasting plan and notifies the homeowners' association and the public and submits the results to <br />the Division for review and to the Board for approval. <br />8. The testimony and exhibits and legal argument presented by the Division are <br />persuasive on the advisability of requiring Mueller to refrain from all mining operations within <br />the "buffer zone" until he submits a hydrologic impact analysis for the specific area identified in <br />