GENERAL32738

• Permit No: M2000158
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 5/19/2003
• Doc Name: Response to Concerns
• From: DMG
• To: Stanley Oldenbaugh
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

STATE OF COLORADO
DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman St., Room 215
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
fAX: [phone]
May 19, 2003
Stanley Oldenbaugh
11100 WCR 38
Platteville, CO 80651
RE: S & H Mine, Permit No. M-2000-158
Dear Mr. Oldenbaugh:
~~
DIVISION OF
MINERALS
GEOLOGY
RECLAMATION
MINING•SA FETY
Bill Owens
Governor
Greg E. Walther
Executive Director
Ronald W. Cottony
Division Director
The Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG) received your letter dated May 5, 2003 regazding concerns related to the
Platte Sand and Gravel S & H Mine. The following aze responses to your concerns:
1. Regarding whether the property owners can store water for municipal use in the ponds that will be created as a
result of sand and gravel extraction, under the current 112c permit, the approved permit has a designated post
mined land use of recreation. If the operator desires to change the post mined land use to a developed water
resource, a permit amendment application must be submitted to the DMG for review. Part of the amendment
application process includes a public comment period similar to the one that occurred during the original
permit application process. The necessary change to the permit cannot be addressed through a technical
revision, but would require an amendment to the current application.
2. Regazding whether the property owners can donate the recreation rights and all the ponds to the town of
Milliken for public use, this is an arrangement that would be made privately between the owner(s) and the
town of Milliken, and does not fall under the jurisdiction of the DMG.
3. The slurry wall process consists of the constmction of an impermeable "wall" underground that isolates the
area contained within the wall from the remainder of the ground water table. A slurry wall can be used in place
of lining a pond intended as a developed water resource. Construction of the wall involves digging a "key
way" into the impermeable geologic layer underlying the sand and gravel. A "wall" is constructed around the
operation and keyed into the underlying layer in one of two ways:
• Material is either placed into the keyway and overlying wall and compacted, or
• A slurry of clay-rich material is pumped into the keyway and used to make the overlying wall
4. Regazding whether the property owner or operator can store municipal water in the pit during mining activity,
this also does not fall under the jurisdiction of DMG (see #2 above).
5. Regarding whether there is a testing procedure to determine whether the pit is sealed, the Office of the State
Engineer conducts a test at sites with slurry walls to determine whether Uley aze adequate.
6. Regarding the first azea to be mined and the size of that area under the current permit, the mining plan states
that mining will commence in two areas, the Sharkey Lake area consisting of 296.73 acres located in the
central western portion of the site, and the Highlands Lake area consisting of 42.78 acres, located in the
southeastern portion of [he permit area.