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Equipment nsed in the pit: exhaust from equipment is likely to be concentrated <br />by the valley walls and cause problems for residents living near the mouth of the canyon. <br />Prevailing north and south winds will distn`bute these fumes up and down the Ward <br />Creek Vallcy. <br />N. ACCESS: The Red Canyon Coal Mine Road is on a blind corner. There has been at <br />least one near accident between a resident driving south on Ward Creek Road and a <br />gravel truck which pu$ed out of the Red Canyon Road directly in front of oncoming <br />traffic. Use of this mad by heavy trucks is asking for an accident. Note that Ward Creek <br />Road is expected to undergo increasing residential use as planned housing developments <br />up canyon are built. Please aLgo note that Ward Creek Road is a school bus route. Ward <br />Creek Road is a narrow, winding country mad. It will require major improvement to <br />handle the huge gravel trucks. It is currently too narrow to accommodate these trucks <br />safely. <br />WATER: Communication with Benson Brothers on 2110f05 indicates that in fact they <br />plan on using 3000 to 4000 gallons of water per day fl~om Red Canyon spring. This <br />amourrt of water is equivalent to the average daily use of 10 households. 't'his water is <br />tributary to Ward Creek and may impact downstream users. if they are not allowed to use <br />the spring they plan to drill a commercial well. Richard Beldon's adjacent three house <br />subdivision proposes to drill a well for each residence. This will be the equivalent of 13 <br />wells or households attempting to use the limited aquifer in this rather small valley. The <br />residence directly across the mad also has a well. Lawsuits which may result from <br />conflicts when wells imerfere with each other will likely involve the wurrty if it approves <br />this obvious ovemse of available ground water. <br />ROADWAYS/DRIVEWAY5 "estimated" truck traffic is five tractor trailer dump <br />trucks per day. This is just an estunate of the annual average. On 2 10/DS Benson Brothers <br />stated that during peak usage they expect as marry as 30 semi trucks per day. Since use is <br />estimated to be lighter in the winter, this implies heavier summer usage, which is a time <br />which will impact residences more. Jake brake use by the trucks is not discussed here, but <br />Benson Brothers plans to use them. This will greatly increase truck noise. Trucks going <br />up and down Slaughter Grade will impact residences far down canyon from the <br />operations. Long tune residents of Coalby valley have stated that mad damage was a <br />major problem when the Red Canyon mine was in operation. ff the courrty permits this <br />operation will they allocate the funds to maintain this increasingly busy roadway, or will <br />we be dodging potholes for the next 30 years? <br />UTILITIES: The use of portable generators for power will greatly add to the noise <br />nuisance, and additional diesel fumes. There is a high voltage power line imo the area. <br />Bensons should have to pay for a substation to decrease the voltage to usable levels rather <br />than subject residents to this additional source of noise and air pollution. Alternatively a <br />power line could be run in from Ward Creek Road, at the operator's expense, although I <br />understand the voltage on that line may not be appropriate for this operation. <br />O. RUNOFF: The property boundaries on the south extend to the top of the Rollins <br />Sandstone Cliffs. There are three homes located directly below these cliffs. Removal of <br />the shale above these cliffs will create a dangerous flood potential for these residences. <br />