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w • xas sent to me by Mr. Berry. This time Mr. Berry enlarged upon his observation of the intensity of possible problems and said that he had now performed a more detailed measurement of the disturbances. He also included disturbances which were unrelated to bonding requirements due to their pre-a:isting nature. My appeals hearing we.s scheduled for 10:00 AM October 23, 1986 at 1313 Sherman, Denver, Colorado. I arrived at 9:00 AM. A back log of hearings delayed my actual hearing time until later in the afternoon. The board treated me with respect and listened to my case. The fact that the obstructing rock pile was leveled for and by the neighboring residents and was of ao benefit to the mine, was considered an irrelevant fact by the Board. It was held that a surface disturbance had taken place on my mining property and that I must be accountable for this disturbance irregardless of who did it, whose easement (i.e. the County's) it was on, and who would benefit. I. pae_ablE..to_point.o.ut .to the Board that much of the surface distu~ba~cesr~suegd p~y,ppr "Mom and-Pop" mine, though.not.required to ~~ reclaimed-until..th,e year 2080,..hae already been. reclaimed:- Wild raeberriea are now growing.ia abundance near the wild roses bushes, and last summer we harvested several gallons of delicious berries. The advanced work was appreciated but did not lessen the penalty! I then submitted four written bide from local excavating contractors-all bidding less than $100 to correct the disturbances. The board reviewed these bide and then overruled the inspector's es>:ima~ Hof reclamation costa. I was instructed to increase the bond .~- - by an additional $100. This I have paid. The hearing of my case, delayed until afternoon because of the backlog of other cases, gave me the opportunity to learn about some of the other mine operator's problems. One that struck fear in my heart pertained to a mine operator whose reclamation bond was secured by a line of credit at a local bank. The bank had failed. This automatically voided his bond. The CMLRD promptly shut down his operation causing his cash flow to cease. He then could not pay hie annual fee of $300-$400 due the CMLRD in August. The CMLRB then fined him $1000 per day penalty for hie delinquency in making this payment. He protested this absurd penalty. The board reduced it to $100 per day fine. He concluded with "How can I ever pay several or more months of this penalty when I cannot even make the much smaller annual feel". I imagine that he is now bankrupt! When I listen to and r~>_ad the news media, I am ever reminded that poverty is all around us, and can strike unexpectedly at anyone of us. The Rocky Mountain News December 21, 1986 edition is headlined "POVERTY GRIPS HISPANIt:S. It could as easily say -"GRIPS MINERS"-or almost any other occupeition affected by punitive overregulation by government agencies. I have been told that since my youngest child is an eight year old Down Syndrome boy with severe medical problems and we are in a low income bracket, we are eligible for some welfare benefits. We do not, however, want any handouts from the government. Rather, we ask that society give us the opportunity we once thought was our privilege as American citizens-the right to support ourselves and earn an honest living-which is becoming almost impossible for us because of these punitive overregulationa now placed upon "Mom and Pop" sized businesses-especially in the mining industry.