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03;09/00 THii 19:19 FdS J03 1820380 CllPHE%tt'OGD L11J002 ~TRTE OF COLOTZADO 6111 Owena, Governor line E. Nodan, 6[ecutive Dlreaor DediuWd m protecting and iml 4300 Cheesy Creek Dr. 5 Denver, Colorado a02a6-7530 Phone (3031692-2000 TDD Line 003) 697 -7700 Located in Glendale, Golarado hap:(lwww.cdphesta[e.m.ua March 13, 2000 naAng the hesirh and environment of the oeople cf Cobracb Labonmry and Radiation Ser+icrr Division a100 Lov+ry Blvd. Denier CO aD270{i9la 0031692-3090 Doug George, Attorney for Shel~m Ranch 1115 Main Street Alamosa, Colorado 811C1 Dear Mr.~George: t CdotadoDepuanrnt oFl'u6licHdda and Fimtoaunenr DRAFT' Thank you for your letter of March 3rd in which yeu describe rorrosion of a well at the Shalom Ranch in Costilla County. 1 am concerned abcut the impact that corcosion of meta] parts involved in the operation of Mr. Cooper' a cell has had on the weft's ability to produce the rlow necessary to operate the center pivot, This is obviously a serious problem and deserves our immediate attention. I consulted with the Department's Water Quality Control Division to learn whether the cause of the damage to the well can be related to the seeps to the Rito Sero on property owned by the Battle Mountain Gold Company. They told me that it would take: a lengthy and complex study to determine whether the chemicals in the seeps could flow from the point where they enter the Rito Seco downstream to the Ranch property and through the alluvial aquifer to the well. This study would likely require the collection of a large amount of information on the natural system which would be used to develop a model that would be designed to evaluate predict the concentration of these chemical constituents at the well. Their review of the data described in several reports submitted by the company , as well as the results of samples collected by the EPA, confirms 117at the chemicals described in your letter are present in the seeps. Additional review of data for samples collected from the Rito Seto at the company's downstream property boundary indicates that the concentrations of most of these chemicals aze virtually equivalent to concentrations upstream of the mining activity. The data show that the concentrations of total dissolved solids and manganese increased from Tate in 1998 through late last year. There is no indication ?hat the concentrations of these constituents in the Rito Seco would cause the type of damage described in your letter if this water were to be directly transmitted to the well. These concentrations would be further diluted between the mine site and the Ranch and the water could take a substantial period to make its way from the stream through the alluvial aquifer to the :veil, if it were to make It to the well at all. We have been working with the Division of Minerals and Geology and the company on the implementation of a "pump and treat" system that has lowered the level of contaminated ground water at the mine by several feet in the past several months. This has substantially reduced, and may have totally eliminated, the source of the seeps and their impact to the Rito Sew