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<br />~~ <br />bona u•~ <br />April 17, 1998 <br />Tom Schreiner <br />State of Colorado <br />Division of Minerals and Geology <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1813 Sherman Ft.reet, Rnom 21_~ <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />RE: Flag Creek Mine/Rio Blanco County, Colorado <br />Dear Tom: <br />County Courthouse <br />Posf Office Box 599 <br />Meeker. CO 81641 <br />(970) 878-5081 <br />FAX (970) 878-5796 <br />RECEIVED <br />APR 21 1998 <br />ilivision of Minerals & Geology <br />~_ g7-OQ~ <br />At your request I have enclosed photographs of the Flag Creek Mine <br />site (PC Management L.L.C.). These photographs were taken from County <br />Road 13 roughly 1/2 mile from the mountainside and show the slide areas <br />and existing natural vegetation. This site is located in a scenic valley <br />adjacent to the White River National Forest in prime elk and deer country. <br />This project was reviewed and tabled by the Rio Blanco County <br />Planning Commission on April 16, 1998. Numerous concerns and issues <br />were raised in the review of this project. For example, the Planning <br />Commission strongly disagreed with the mining plan statement that the <br />water in the area does not meet drinking water standards and that <br />groundwater is not present at the site. A Planning Commission member <br />who was formally the head of the U.S. Geological Survey office in Meeker <br />and a noted authority on water resources in Colorado ran numerous water <br />samples along Flag Creek and found all samples well below the maximum <br />grroptable levels for drinking :va±er for total dissclved sclide. In August of <br />1997 the Rio Blanco County Development Department attempted to site a <br />leach field between the staging area and slide areas on this property and <br />found high groundwater levels several feet below the surface. <br />The Rio Blanco County Road and Bridge Department estimated that <br />based on the truck traffic and tonnage of rock estimated in the mining <br />plan it would take almost 200 years to transport the rock off-site. As a <br />result, it was thought the truck traffic impact would be significantly <br />greater than estimated in the mining plan. The transformation of the <br />largely forested hillside to a permanent bare rock scar for almost a mile in <br />length was thought to have a visual impact on the area. <br />III IIIIIIIIIIIII III ~ <br />RIO BLANCO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT <br />