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GENERAL33904
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GENERAL33904
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Last modified
8/24/2016 7:55:38 PM
Creation date
11/23/2007 7:46:00 AM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
DRMS Permit Index
Permit No
M1978116
IBM Index Class Name
General Documents
Doc Date
9/12/2007
Doc Name
Reply brief
From
Cotter Corporation
To
DRMS
Permit Index Doc Type
SM18
Media Type
D
Archive
No
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The Board may remedy the error by reinstating the July 25, 2005, DMO determination and <br />confirming that Cotter has not met its substantial burden of proof in seeking an exemption from <br />the DMO provisions. <br />V. THE BOARD LACKS SUFFICIENT INFORMATION TO GRANT A DMO <br />EMEMPTION IN THIS PROCEEDING <br />Cotter has not met the formidable legal burden to demonstrate that the Boazd may lawfully grant <br />an exemption from DMO status. <br />As set forth in Appellants' Opening Brief, <br />In order to obtain the exemption, the applicant for the exemption must demonstrate that <br />the DMO does not use, store, or disturb toxic-producing materials "in quantities sufficient <br />to adversely affect any person, any property, or the environment." <br />Opening Brief at 9. In the present case, the documented exposure of uranium and heavy metals, <br />and the toxicity of uranium and the deadly health impacts of uranium mines leaves no doubt that <br />a Board-granted exemption is improper where an underground uranium mine with demonstrated <br />disturbance of toxic materials such as SM-18 is involved. <br />Regardless of whether or not the Board has discretion to provide an exemption for a 112 <br />Operation as opposed to a 110 operation, Cotter has failed to carry its burden to demonstrate, <br />with competent data, that the SM-18 meets each element required to establish eligibility for an <br />exemption. <br />As stated in the Opening Brief, with respect to groundwater contamination, the standazd for <br />finding DMO status is much lower than the standard for granting a permit or finding that a <br />violation of an applicable groundwater standard will not occur. Instead, DMO determinations <br />and exemptions concerns the much lower standard of whether toxic or acidic materials are <br />disturbed in "quantities sufficient to adversely affect any person, any property, or the <br />environment...." C.R.S. § 34-32-112.5(2). <br />Nevertheless, Cotter does not go beyond its narrow argument based on groundwater standards to <br />address the quantities of ores anticipated at the SM-18 mine, let alone the numerous affects on <br />persons, property and the environment that are identified in the EPA documents. The record <br />unambiguously demonstrates that the SPLP test results uranium mining at the SM-18 mine <br />"showed that toxic-forming materials were present in the waste rock and ore that is being <br />deposited at the surface of the operation." Opening Brief at 10. Neither Cotter nor DRMS <br />dispute this fact. <br />Nowhere does Cotter address the "quantities" of these materials nor whether or not these <br />undisclosed quantities are "sufficient to adversely affect any person, any property, or the <br />environment." 34-32-112.5(2). Thus, the standards set out by Cotter and DRMS for obtaining an <br />
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