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,~ Page 2 • • <br />January 2, 199 <br />Jean E. Manger <br />404 Permit Requirements <br />Second, the operational F~len excavates almost exclusively along a <br />ridge line and enters the minor drainage course adJacent to the pit <br />only to connect that drainage to the pit drainage. No discharge into <br />the drainage will occur. No filling of drainages will occur and the <br />method of mining and reclaiming ie designed to reduce water retention <br />to essentially zero. The only backfilling that will occur ie the <br />replacement of salvaged topsoil as a growth medium to support the <br />revegetation. Some soil will be placed in the bottom of the final <br />drainage through the pit, but thnt will only be to reconnect the <br />existing grassed "waterway" with the revegetated pit. In other words, <br />soil replacement will facilitate an establishment of a condition <br />essentially identical to what is currently the case in this drainage. <br />In short, if this operation fit the description of the stereotyped <br />sand and gravel pit that ~nlned an alluvial gravel deposit within a <br />water cut valley then I w~~uld agree the 404 rules might well apply. <br />But because of the nature of this small operation occurring on a ridge <br />crest in dry range land where the water table is 50 feet or more under <br />the surface and runoff in these drainages is indeed a rare event, I <br />believe the 404 rules do i~ot apply. <br />It le hoped this response will satisfy your concerns. <br />Thank you. <br />Respectfully, <br />Mark A. Heifner <br />1 <br />cc: Gregg Squire, Colorado Division of Mined Land Reclamation <br />Howard Runetle, Attorney for Vida Solberg <br />Norman Whitehead, Leigh Whitehead & Associates <br />