PERMFILE46707

• Permit No: M2002122
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 2/25/2003
• Doc Name: Objection Letter
• From: Petersen & Fonda P.C.
• To: DMG
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

I
F~B-25-2003 TUE 03 10 PN PETERSEN & FONDA, PC 719 542 8515 P. 03
Colorado Division of Mining and Geology
February 25, 2003
Page 2
to ca7.l the Division's attention to Page 1 of the Sand and Gravel
Lease which was supplied in response to that January 2 letter.
St provides under the "Right to Remove Products" paragraph an
initial lease period beginning January 1, 2003 for five (5) years
with a single "preferential right of renewal" for an additional
five (5) years. The application appears to be d "lifetime of
mine" permit request. The application suggests that the
anticipated "lifetime" would extend through the year 2045. Given
the nature of trie lease term, we submit that the application
fails to comply with Division requirements for an ongoing right
to enter consistent with the suggested life of the mine. This
inconsistency will certainly not allow for the incremental
removal of materia~ suggested in the application.
The Colorado Department of Transportation in its
February 11, 2003 letter to the Division, suggests additional
concerns. The proposed site abuts State Highway 69, hence the
State Highway right~of-way. The application does not address the
drainage issue. A substantial set-back may solve this problem,
but nothing in the application addresses that concern.
Alternative drainage could impact natural surface water even more
'adversely.
1~ The January 29, 2003 Division of Water Resources Conditions
for Approval suggest even greater water concerna. The
application implies a somewhat superficial mining operation
despite tho fact that economically recoverable material exists at
depths o£ possibly 40 or 50 feet. This more complete use of the
resource, although resulting in less disturbance to surface area,
could have adverse impact to local ground water resources,
including those pf Wolf Springs Ranches, Inc., which awn several
of. the wells closest to the proposed excavation/mining site. The
application does not even pose this as an alternative but merely
seeks approval f~QQr a quick and dirty removal of surface material.
This approach isiparticularly troublesome in view of the Colorado
Department of Wildlife's material submitted with the application
at the County level. The Colorado Department of Wildlife, in
that material, deemed it necessary to limit removal of material
to 5-acre increments with reclamation occurring at trie conclusion
'£ each 5-acre operation. Despite that recommendation, the
application contains increments of almost three times those
ubmitted by the Colorado Department of Wildlife.
In their evaluation of this application dated August 27,
2, the Colorado Department of Wildlife suggested that a
Permit may be required on this project. The Corps of