2007-04-11_REVISION - M1977247 (2)

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o~~;., _ -,~ -.,~ .r- ~ . Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 Denver, Colorado 80203 . ~~ ~ -, P. O. Box 309 _~ Coaldale, CO 81222 Apri19, 2007 I'm writing about the Coaldale Gypsum Quarry, which is scheduled to begin operation in June 2007. I've lived in Coaldale for almost sixty yeazs, and I strongly oppose the reopening of this mine. The reasons for opposing this mine are too many to put into one letter, but among the most serious are the following. Once approval for mining has been given to the company who owns the mine, nothing can be done to force the company to comply with reasonable standazds of corporate behavior. For years we were walked all over by previous owners and operators of this mine. We were made promises that weren't kept. We were lied to and treated with disrespect. We know that we wiIl have absolutely no way to protect ourselves if this mine is allowed to open. My most serious concern is the damage to homes and wells from the blasting that always goes on when the mine is in operation. People have had their homes damaged and their foundations cracked by this blasting, which fills the air with dust and is sometimes downright scary. For many years I lived in California for part of every year, and I've been in some very bad earthquakes. Sitting in my kitchen here at Coaldale, I've been lifted from the floor and had my kitchen table moved because of an explosion that shook my house as badly as an earthquake would have shaken it. This is a critical concern. I wrote letters to the mine operators and was promised that things would change. They never did. If the damage to homes and foundations is bad, how much worse is the unseen damage to our wells? Our pipes can crack, and we face the possibility of having our wells ruined and the value of our property reduced to zero. And where do we move to when our wells are gone, and how can we afford to move when our property is worthless? A few summers ago some of our wells went dry, and my own came very close to it. Another serious concern is that when blasts shake houses and crack foundations, they also put stress on our gas lines, power lines, and phone lines. I'm especially worried about the gas lines because we use propane, and I know that the line to my propane tank is tight and secure. There's no allowance for stress. I also know that after eazthquakes people shut off their gas lines immediately, but we can't do that here if a line breaks and gas escapes. Any spark can ignite the gas and cause an explosion that can kill people and burn their homes down. Or breathing the escaping gas can kill a person. The argument is always that it hasn't happened so far. The answer is that all it takes is once, and every time there's a blast at that mine, we're all at risk. Also we know that this is already an area of seismic activity, and some people have been in real earthquakes right here in Coaldale. One older woman was thrown almost across her own front room, and my house was shaken badly. One of these quakes was felt twenty miles away in Salida. Blasting at the quarry will only contribute to this kind of instability though quakes occur deeper than the blasts. But the blasting weakens the ground and rocks under us and any natural support that we may have in an azea that's already unstable.