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iii iiiniiium iii STATE OF COLORADO DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY Depanmeni of Nawral Resources '• 311 Sherman Ss., Room '_I i Dem-cr. Colorodu 40]03 Phunr 11031 d66-3567 FAX 11051 dl'-8106 Date: October l5, 1998 To: Michael B. Long, Director From: •,.t~aniel I. Hernandez, Senior Environmental Protection Specialist I L~ Re: Results of Tatum Research ,nl' ~I~ DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Roy Romer Governor Tames 5. Lochhead E.ecume Dveaor Michael B Long Davison Direanr In March of 1998, the Division received a letter from Ann Tatum dated February 23, 1998. This letter indicated that in December 1997, a District Court judge, presiding over a civil suit between Jim and Ann Tatum and Basin Resources, Inc., had decided that subsidence from the Golden Earle Mine had damaged a residential structure owned by the Tatums. The letter from Ms. Tatum included the following statements: "The testimony in this 6-day trial revealed Basin Resources did not provide copies of survey material to the State and/or OSM." "If the State and/or the federal government is interested in the truth in this matter. you should explore what evidence Basin Resources intentionally withheld, and why your personnel distorted or ignored the facts." The Division, following receipt of this letter, began reviewing Division files and court records in an attempt to determine what material Ms. Tatum was referring to, whether the Division had been provided this material, whether Basin Resources was required to provide this material to the Division, and whether the material, if found, served to change any previous Division determinations regarding the Tatum residential structure. While conducting our records review, we received a second letter from Ms. Tatum on July 23, 1998. In this letter, dated July 20, 1998, Ms. Tatum seemed to reverse her position that DMG had not received the survey material she referred to in her February 1998 letter. In the July 20, 1998 letter, Ms. Tatum stated: "During our civil trial against Basin Resources, Inc., it was discovered that Basin Resources, Inc. had conducted a survey of our property that confirmed subsidence had occurred. Basin Resources, Inc. hid this survey material from us until the trial. Did Basin also hide these facts from DMG and OSM? No, these results were provided to DMG during the normal course and scope of the federal reporting requirements."