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Mr. William C. York-Feirn 4 early evening of February 24, 1992, I observed that the Cash mine hoist house lights had been turned on. The next day, I had occasion to inspect the Cash mine site in the company of two Canadian mining men. I observed that the 2 inch pipeline which I had cut in November, 1991, had been repaired, the 2 inch valve near the shaft collar had been opened, the power for the hoist house turned on, and that water was being pumped up the hill to the Hazel A mine. There were also tracks from Mr. Tatman's snow cat leading up and down the Cash mine access road to the mill site. When I returned to Boulder, I contacted Mr. Alan Berryman, the Division Chief of the Office of the State Water Engineer in Greeley, Colorado, and related what I had seen at the Cash mine. Mr. Berryman sent Mr. Robert Carlson from the Boulder Office of the State Engineer to the Gold Hill Mill. From the telephone discussions that I had with Mr. Carlson, evidently Mr. Tatman's explanation about this matter was that the Cash mine water was being pumped up the hill for treatment in a water treatment plant prior to discharging the treated water under the Cash mine permit. COM, Inc.'s Mill Superintendent also told Mr. Carlson that the Gold Hill Mill was processing ore using water pumped from Left Hand Creek into the mill. If the Cash mine's water is going to be used in the Gold Hill Mill for milling purposes, the proper water use permits from the Office of the State Engineer should be obtained. The owners of the Cash mine have no objection to making the water in the mine available for milling purposes as long as it is done properly and legally. With regard to the plan of operations for tailings impoundment, it should be noted that the mill processed approximately 2,500 tons of stockpiled development ore from the Cash mine during the 1987 and 1988 period of operations using the plan described in the permit. No mill tailings were deposited outside of the tailings pond during this earlier period of milling operations, when more than three times the amount of ore was processed through the mill than has been processed by COM, Inc. in the last five months. If all mill tailings discharge lines are kept within the inside of the lined portion of the pond, the only critical section of the tailings line is the length of line between the mill building and the tailings pond. After all, the mill building is only 60 or 70 feet from the tailings impoundment dam. If COM, Inc.'s employees had used the existing underground tailings discharge line, there would not have been any mill tailings discharged on the ground surface. The plan for tailings discharge outlined in the permit should be followed at all times by the Mil] Operator. Mill tailings should be discharged into the pond using the peripheral discharge line that was installed and used during the 1987 and 1988 period of operations. No mill tailings should be discharged into the pond from the upper side of the pond, as was done during the latest period of operations by COM, Inc.'s employees. All that is required to insure that there are no future tailings spills is the proper installation of all tailings discharge lines.