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<br />Mrs. Ann TaIUm <br />pritttary responaibiliry for the regulation of coal atinitrg in Colorado. OSM has oversight <br />reaponaibiliry far euatting that DMG u administering its program property, including the <br />responsbiliry m enforce provisions of the Colorado program when the State fails to do so. When <br />OSM receives information, a,, Cor example, by means of a dozen complaint, of a possible <br />violation of this State program, SMCRA requires OSM to inform Colorado of this fact. OSM <br />then affiords the State 10 days either to take "appropriate action' to cause the possrble violation to <br />be correettd or w show "good ease" far failing to take such action. <br />(2) In response to yow November 1993 citizen complaint, Colontdo DMG maintained that no <br />violation had occurred. It based this conclusion on an irnestigation by iU qualified expert. OSM <br />accepted the State's response and provided you with ils decision By lent dated December 2, <br />1994, you requested an infortttal review of OSM'a derision tout DMG's response was <br />apptnpriate. Sy letter dated January 18, 1995, OSM's Deputy Director infomed you he was <br />requesting DMG m conduct an additional investigation to detettnine whether or rmt the Golden <br />Eagle mine had caused subsidence-related damage to your house. The Deputy Director indicated <br />thaz OSM would provide technical assist:nee to DMG during the investigation and that, once the <br />investigation was complete, OSM would issue a final deeiaion on your December 2 request for <br />ittfortnal review. <br />Act we have thoroughly related to you in letter sad in documenu responding to your FOJA <br />raques4 from January 1995 through September 1995, OSM and DMG wnducted an extensive <br />itiveatigatioa into the possibility that aubsideoce had damaged your Colorado residence. Ail of the <br />OSM and DMG experts agreed, in separate written reports, that aubsideace was not in fact <br />eatuing wch datnege. Citing the State's detar7ed and cogently reasoned respo»ae, ss welt as <br />reports of his own experts to the ell'ect that subsidence was not cauaiog damage to your <br />residence, ltegiortal Director Se@td informed you by letter dated September 18, 1995, that your <br />house was sot situated such that subsidence from mining at the Golden Eagle mine could have <br />cause the alleged damage to yow house. Age'u>, we stand by this eonclusioa and await the <br />decision on yow appeal to the ]BLA. <br />(3) Of considerable emphasis in your December 18 letter and yow July 20, 1998, FOIA request, <br />s9 well as in cosderersea calls, is OSi\t's use of the Surface Dcformadon Prediction System <br />(SOPS) during investigations of citizens' complainu. You seek doaunents relating to the SOPS. <br />You want to know which version of the SOPS OSM has been using. <br />Most recemly in aw letters of August 24 sad November 27, 1998, we love pointed out to you <br />that DMG's and OSM's conclusions that the underground extraction closest to your residence did <br />not cause subsidence to the land surface and these conclusions acre based primarily on the fact <br />that this extraction was a limited non-retreat, room-and-pillar type with acoal-removal ratio of <br />only 34 percent. To quote from our August 241etter; "(t]he fad is that underground extraction <br />closest to your home did not cause any subsidence to the land surface since it was a <br />