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data collected at RS-3 show the effects of natural geologic influences on the <br />concentration of manganese. The naturally elevated concentrations of manganese <br />recorded at RS-3 are consistent with elevated concentrations of manganese <br />recorded in groundwater monitoring wells that have not been affected by the <br />historic flow of groundwater from the West Pit. <br />A seepage face located along the south bank of the Rito Seco, downgradient from <br />the historic ESI heap leach azea, was not sampled during a recent (June 8, 2000) <br />USEPA NPDES site inspection because the EPA personnel determined that the <br />pooled water associated with the seepage face did nomconstitute a representative <br />sampling location. Although, a sample from the location was subsequently <br />collected during a site visit by an EPA representative of the Emergency Response <br />Program, the sample was collected with reservations regarding the ability to <br />collectG~l~a representative sample noting similaz conditions as were identified by <br />the NPDES sampling team. <br />Comment: <br />II-Baseline Hazdness Value: <br />Response: <br />As noted above, the low hazdness at RS-1 reflects the fact that the water quality in <br />the Rito Seco, as it flows through metamorphic bedrock, is not the same as the <br />baseline water quality found naturally in the Rito Seco as it flows through <br />alluvium in the downstream reach that aze more chazacteristic of flows in the <br />vicinity of the West Pit. The issue of representative water quality collected at RS- <br />1, as affected by the fundamentally different geological environment, was <br />addressed in the previous response. In addition, BMRI is surprised that the EPA <br />would a single data point as more representative than a history of data that <br />reflects the natural variations that would be expected from a natural <br />environmental system, regazdless of a particulaz sampling point location. <br />Mountain Resources, Inc. list GeoTrans <br />3 .rury zr, zooo <br />