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• Mr. William C. York-Feirn 2 C~ water line. Upon entering the mill, I found that this water was being used to process concentrates in the concentrate thickener tank and the disc filtration circuit. This water was also used to chazge the mill and fill the two steady head tanks, the two pressure tanks, and the large thickener tank. It was also used in the water and sewage lines of the mill, and in two trailers that housed four or five of COM, Inc.'s employees and their families. This use of the water stored behind the Hazel A mine's bulkhead resulted in drawing the water level down three or four feet below the top of the bulkhead. In late September or early October, I met with Mrs. Fraser and Mr. Tatman in Boulder, and discussed the need to pump water from the Cash mine. They agreed to pay the power bill for this pumping activity, and had the Colorado Public Service Company change the billing address from Gold Hill Ventures to COM, Inc.'s address. On October 20, 1991, I began pumping from the Cash mine in order to bring the water level down to accommodate fresh water inflow from snowmelt and rainfall, and to keep the mine water below the electrical control panes that aze located on the first level of the mine. Because Mr. Tatman had improperly reinstalled the 120 foot section of pipe alongside the mill building, the entire section had been destroyed by freezing in early October. Rather than wait for this section of the line to be replaced, it was agreed that the water from the Cash mine would be diverted into the Gold Hill Mill building and allowed to pass through the mill tailings discharge line into the tailings pond. At this time, only a few feet of water was standing in the southwestern part of the pond, and a large growth of weeds filled most of the bottom of the deepest part of the tailings pond. After turning on the Cash mine pump, I cautioned COM, Inc.'s Mill Superintendent that the tailings pond's decant line to the Hazel A mine would become unusable if he did not periodically flush the line by opening the 2 inch ball valve located on the southern end of the outer edge of the tailings dam. Since COM, Inc. had been pumping water from behind the Hazel A mine's bulkhead for nearly five months, and had filled all four of the mill's water tanks and the large thickener tank, there was probably room for at least 100,000 gallons of additional water in the Hazel A mine storage area. During the next four days, I stayed in contact with Mr. Tatman on the telephone to monitor the water level in the tailings pond. By the late afternoon of October 24, 1992, the pond was filled to the point where the highest growth of weeds in the tailings pond were completely covered with water. At this time, I walked down to the decant line's ball valve with Mr. Tatman. Contrary to what Mr. Tatman has written in his December 17, 1991, response to the Mined Land Reclamation Division's November 26, 1991, inspection, the valve had not been opened by anyone during the preceding four days of pumping. I had to dig the valve out of sand which had accumulated around the valve during the preceding yeaz.