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" ~. • EXH1~31r A • Department of Natural Nesources; MINED LAND RECLAMATION DIVISION 21 S Centennial Bldg., 1313 Sherman St. Denver, Colorado 80203 August 12, 1989 T0: Mined Land Board Members RE: Application for Winkler Light Aggregate Quarry We wish to advise the board of our Intent to protest the Winkler-Hallett application for a quarry, and we hereby request the opportunity to make our concerns known at public hearing~ Au9us1 a 3, ig8`1 I . Some of us attended the August 8, 1989, meeting held 1n the Colorado Springs Ctty Council chambers to address Issues surrounding Colorado Springs quarries. Many of the statements and admissions made in the course of that meeting apply as well to the proposed Winkler quarry 1n Douglas County, and comments such as those which we enumerate below Indicate that your approval of the Winkler Light Quarry would be premature and damaging to the public welfare. 1) Botn cttlzens and Reclamation Board representatives made clear that "reclamation" merely means providing for some "beneficial" end use for the land mined. Reclamation does >~mean restoring land to either its pre- mining appearance or to any appearance that a lay person would consider aesthetically or practically acceptable. 2) According to Chips Berry, Director of Natural Resources, whereas current reclamation law "works" with respect to alluvial gravel pits, it has not been satisfactory with respect to quarries. At this time, standards for quarry reclamation are either Insufflctently addressed by statute or rule-- or not Inexistence. A scarred ,stair-stepped, and excoriated terrain may be entirely consistent with a "final land use" envisioned by the current Reclamation Act, but not with expectations and needs of the public and local governments. 3) llhder Current. law, mines regulate themselves. Operators have no required timetable for completion of reclamation. Furthermore, what will constitute "reasonable" reclamation--that is, what a "reclaimed" site