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,ifE,L10 Lo Greg LVafcher <br />, A(nrch 16. 2000-Resporzse to Alliance for Respoasi6/e Musing <br />• Page 2 <br />seeps to the Rito Seco itself. However, downstream surface water monitoring data, and <br />other down gradient alluvial ground water monitoring, data do not indicate that <br />contaminated waters have left the site. <br />The company took immediate steps, reviewed and approved by both the DNIG and the <br />Water Quality Control Division (WQCD), to capture the seeps and springs that <br />discharged to the Rito Seco. The company is now in the process of cleaning up both the <br />contamination plume in the Rito Seco alluvium and the West Pit, which is the source of <br />the contaminated ground water. Under the corrective action plan proposed by the <br />company and approved by the State, the site should be able to meet water quality <br />standards in about 7 to 8 years. <br />The completion of the remediation plan is assured by the $6,100,000 reclamation bond <br />(which is to be increased to $7,360,000) currently held by the Board for reclamation of <br />the site. The bond will provide adequate moneys to cover the cost of water treatment <br />plant operation for the time necessary to flush the West Pit and the contaminated <br />portion of the Rito Seco alluvium. <br />It is important to note that there have been no documented releases of process waters <br />to surface or ground waters that have not met water quality standards. <br />The Alliance states that there are no cyanide open pit gold mining operations that use <br />cyanide that have not caused water quality problems associated with cyanide or acid <br />mine drainage. The only operation the Division is aware of having this effect is <br />Summitville. DMG presently has 6 mining operations that would Hall under the <br />proposed initiative. None of these sites, to the best of our knowledlge, is out of <br />compliance with its approved Mined Land Reclamation Board permit or in violation of <br />some water quality discharge standard. <br />We have had a number of sites that used cyanide and have been successfully <br />reclaimed. To the best of our knowledge, the following sites have remained in <br />compliance with water quality standards, for example: <br />> Crystal Hill -reclaimed by the operator and released on June 6, 1995. <br />> Alta Tailings -the operator's permit was revoked on January 25, 1995, and the <br />State and the landowner reclaimed the site. <br />> In total, 99 gold and silver mines have been successfully reclaimed and released <br />by the Division. While most of those were underground or placer operations that <br />did not use cyanide, some were surface mines or mines that processed precious <br />metal ore with cyanide <br />