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Ostler County P!tanning Dept Date tTv~rred Zby~~ S ----~-r- Delta County Planahrg Department ~: (~ /i Delta county Caurhotrse sol Pahnerst. ~ ~:; Delta, Colorado 81416 February 13, 2005 I am writing this letter to address my ooncems and fears should the Benson Brothers be given permission to open a mining operation that will be located in Red Canyon, east of Ward Creek Road in Delta County. My property borders the Bensons properly on the south, a total of 715 feet. My house and shop are located approximatey three hundred fed south of and under a vertical wall of stones approximatey 100 feet nigh. At the top of this wall of stone my property canthrues up the hill approximately 200 feet to med Bensons property line. From this property lino the hill continues another 300 feet or more to the ridge or cxes[ of the hi1L This hill appears to be red shale. The nordreast comer of my Property i[rterseds with my neighbor's property and atwenty- percent or more grade down to the south from the Bensons property caeating a valley coming down towards my property. The entire valley and the top of the mountain also appear to be the type of red shale that the Bensons plan to mine. On first conversation with the Bcesons and company, they assured me m a goup meeting that there would be no mining on the south side of tare mountain. After taking a group hike to this red shale area the Bensons indicated that this shale is what they are looking to mine. They try to assure me that all mining would be done from the north side of the mountain My position is -should it became too expansive or not practical to cut into the earth from the north side of the mountaiq what is to slap them from coming over and around the mountain to the south side to mine the shale. I purpose that if they should happen to mine from the south side of the mountain, both my neighbor and 1 would be put hr imminent danger from water, debris, mud, rocks etc. I am quite aware that the applicant states that no impervious surfaces will be cxeated, but what assurahce do I have? I am also concerned that with much mining activity on the top of the mormtain (even if they do not come around to the south side) these will be problems with mud and dislodged boulders coming down the mountain on my property. Will there be fradmes in the mountain that will cause dislodging of the large rocks above my house? After studying the designated area from afaz--top of slaughter grade and from Coalby Canyon on Ward Creek Road, it becomes quite clear that the entire top of the mountain will be removed thus changing the landscape forever. Heavy equipment could be sitting on top of this mountain and visible from slaughter Bade and several miles of Ward Creek Road for the next fifteen or twenty years. This may not be a scerric byway fa the average tourist, but it is Coalby Canyons residents' scenic byway. The applicants states that the operarion should only be visible for a short distance from Ward Meek Road. This statement is not true. Under performance standards, the Bensons contend that this property is in a rural area adjacent to an existing red shale mine and a coal mine. There are several old mines in the area These comments are misleading. The existing red shale mine is a onamari operation and it is no !anger alive. The coal mine has been shut down for many years and the area has been reclaimed for rangeland I have lived in Coalby Canyon for nine years and if someone had not told me these was a coal mine in the area, I would not have known that it had existed The applicant states that because the site is situated in a canyon surrounded on the sides by high ridges or existing mine sites, that the affects on neighbors from noise should be minimal. Even though I live on the other side of the hill, I have often heard the one-man rock crusher. The echoes from the surrounding hills carry the noise Beat distances including over the hills. (Every day [ hear the Cedaredge noon whistle and I am located 4 miles from town). The `remoteness of the location' statement made by the applicant is not