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STATE OF COLORADO <br />Bill Owens, Governor <br />DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES <br />DIVISION OF WILDLIFE <br />AN EQUAL OPPOR7UN17V EMPLOYER <br />Russell George, Director <br />8060 Broedwey <br />Denver, Colorado 80218 <br />Telephone: (303) 297-1192 <br />Northwest Region Office <br />7111ndependent Avenue <br />Grand Junction, CO 81505 <br />(970) 255-6100 <br />Colorado Division of Minerals & Geology <br />ATTN: Mr. Carl B. Mount <br />1313 Sherman 5t., Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />- - - - - - pot. <br />Dear Mr. Mount, <br />RECEIVED <br />DEC 2 3 2002 / <br />For I~ldlife- <br />For People <br />Division of Minerals and Geology P"1°~'r r ~`~ <br />cBM <br />I(/t _'Ze o z -III SSS <br />~ (cL,,.- Cs---g~ <br />~~ ~~^1~~"'°'"`A Pis December 19, 2002 <br />~e v-w1(i-' F7 ~~ <br />~.ew1N~2„~ ~~~_ <br />The Colorado Division of Wildlife has reviewed the Reclamation Permit Application (RPA) for the <br />Gilsonite Gravel Pit submitted by Elam Construction, Inc. (File M-2002-111). The proponent seeks to <br />mine gravel from an area that has been heavily disturbed and polluted by past industrial uses. As a <br />result, the wildlife habitat values of the property are currently low. This project is not devoid of wildlife <br />concerns, however. Those concerns include the potential impact of this operation on Threatened & <br />Endangered Colorado River fishes, the wetland status of the area to be mined, and the requested waiver <br />of reclamation standards for the impaled area. <br />Mining of this site and dewatering of the pit will result in the discharge of up to 2,000 gallons of <br />water per minute during the initial phase of the mine. The RPA indicates that the discharge rate would <br />then stabilize to around 700 gallons per minute for the remainder of the operation. Wastewater from the <br />pit will be discharged into the Colorado River in an area designated as critical habitat for Threatened & <br />Endangered fishes. That area is also heavily used by fishermen and others engaged in water cAntal <br />alivities. The RPA identifies the risk that pit pumping may draw plumes of highly toxic hydrocarbons, <br />free produl, and heavy metal contaminants known to exist on adjacent portions of the FMM property to <br />the pit. The combination of critical wildlife habitat and extremely heavy human use immediately <br />downstream of the outfall should prompt all agencies involved in the approval process to ensure that the <br />proposed effluent limitations and sampling rates will ensure the health and safety of both wildlife and the <br />public. <br />Exhibit J of the RPA did not include a formal assessment of the properly for wetland values. We <br />note that approximately half of Sut>-area's 1 and 3 are identified as swamp or marsh on the Mack <br />U.S.G.S topographical map. A hand-drawn map submitted with the RPA identifies a marsh pond as <br />existing on the eastern edge of Pond #6. Those features, along with intrusions of reed grass, saltgrass, <br />and alkali sacaton into the mining area indicate that a more formal evaluation of the existing vegetation <br />is warranted. <br />DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, Greg E. Walcher, Executive Director <br />WILDLIFE COMMISSION, Rick Enstrom, Chair • Robert Shoemaker, Vice-Chair • Marianna Raitopoulos, Secretary <br />Members, Bernard Black • Tom Burke • Jeffrey Crawford • Philip James • Brad Phelps • Olive Valdez <br />Ex-Officio Members, Greg E. Walcher and Don Ament <br />