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iii ~ti~~uiii~~« iii • • IN REPLY REFEP TO United States Department of the Interior OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING Reclamation and Enforcement 1999 Broadway, Suite 3320 Denver, Colorado 80202-5733 AUK 2slV ~D o;~, 1995 slop o~ M nera~s ~ G,eo%9Y AUG 2 4 1995 Mr. and Mrs. Jim Tatum Law Offices of Jim Tatum and Associates 8703 Bonhomme Houston, Texas 77074 Dear Mr. and Mrs. Tatum: In accordance with the provisions of 30 CFR 842.15, I have conducted an informal review of this agency's action regarding your written complaint of November 30, 1993, as requested in your letter of August 12, 1995, to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM). Your complaint concerned the impact of underground mining operations on your water well. On December 7, 1993, a Federal inspection was conducted and Ten-Day Notice No. 93-020-370-000, violation 2 of 3 was issued. In your August 12, 1995, letter you asserted that an operator must take preventative measures to protect a water well, that your well is no longer capable of producing a useable quantity of water, and that under the new Federal regulations, an operator is required to repair an existing well or drill a new one. A review of the record in this case discloses that on June 6, 1995, you were advised by the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG) that, based on its investigation, while it is likely that the water level in the well was influenced by the adjacent exhaust shaft, (1) the water well was not permitted by the State Engineer's Office, (2) the water right has not been adjudicated, and (3) the operator took measures to minimize the impacts to hydrologic balance in the area of the well. Accordingly, the DMG determined that the operator was not in violation of its permit. You also assert that under the new Federal regulations the operator is required to make you whole by either repairing the existing well or drilling a new one. This argument is misplaced. The new Federal rules that you allude to are found at 30 CFR 701.5 and 817.41(j), respectively. The new definition of "drinking, domestic or residential water supply" at 30 CFR 701.5 means "water received from a well or spring and any appurtenant delivery system that provides water for direct human consumption or household use. Wells and springs that serve only agricultural, commercial or industrial enterprises are not included except to the extent that water supply is for direct (o`~~~-