PERMFILE116650

• Permit No: M2002122
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 2/26/2003
• Doc Name: Objection Letter
• From: Petersen & Fonda P.C.
• To: DMG
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Colorado Division of Mining and Geology
February 25, 2003
Page 2
to call the Division's attention to Page 1 of the Sand and Gravel
Lease which was supplied in response to that January 2 letter.
It provides under the "Right to Remove Products" paragraph an
initial lease period beginning January 1, 2003 for five (5) years
with a single "preferential right of renewal" for an additional
five (5) years. The application appears to be a "lifetime of
mine" permit request. The application suggests that the
anticipated "lifetime" would extend through the year 2045. Given
the nature of the lease term, we submit that the application
fails to comply with Division requirements for an ongoing right
to enter consistent with the suggested life of the mine. This
inconsistency will certainly not allow for the incremental
removal of material suggested in the application.
The Colorado Department of Transportation in its
February 11, 2003 letter to the Division, suggests additional
concerns. The proposed site abuts State Highway 69, hence the
State Highway right-of-way. The application does not address the
drainage issue. A substantial set-back may solve this problem,
but nothing in the application addresses that concern.
Alternative drainage could impact natural surface water even more
adversely.
The January 29, 2003 Division of Water Resources Conditions
for Approval suggest even greater water concerns. The
application implies a somewhat superficial mining operation
despite the fact that economically recoverable material exists at
depths of possibly 40 or 50 feet. This more complete use of the
resource, although resulting in less disturbance to surface area,
could have adverse impact to local ground water resources,
including those of Wolf Springs Ranches, Inc., which own several
of the wells closest to the propcsed excavation/mining site. The
application does not even pose this as an alternative but merely
seeks approval for a quick and dirty removal of surface material.
This approach is particularly troublesome in view of the Colorado
Department of Wildlife's material submitted with the application
at the County level. The Colorado Department of Wildlife, in
that material, deemed it necessary to limit removal of material
to 5-acre increments with reclamation occurring at the conclusion
of each 5-acre operation. Despite that recommendation, the
application contains increments of almost three times those
submitted by the Colorado Department of Wildlife.
In their evaluation of this application dated August 27,
2002, the Colorado Department of Wildlife suggested that a
404 Permit may be required on this project. The Corps of