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