Laserfiche WebLink
III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII <br />999 <br />January Z, 19K9 <br />Office of Mined Land Reclamation <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St Room 423 <br />Denver, Colorado 80233-2273 <br />~~~~/ <br />,1qN ~© <br />R~C~~~ ~ o ~NRS <br />D <br />N DI V ~S~pN <br />Dear Sirs: <br />I would like to register a public protest against the Battle Mountain <br />Gold Company. <br />I teach elementary school children at the Centennial School District in <br />San Luis, Colorado and I am very concerned about the health haTard the gold <br />mine is placing on our school and community <br />Battle Mountain Gold Mine Company plans to place its ryanide leach <br />pads and tailings dam within the flood plain of the Rito Seco area. This plan <br />could have a devastating effect on our school and community should there <br />ever be a flood or other natural disaster. <br />The cyanide leach pads, which will be approximately three miles away, <br />are entirely too close to our school and our children. The fact that the mine <br />will be using 900 tons of cyanide within a one yeaz period is very c.isturbing <br />and extremely frightening. <br />If the leach pads ever spill their contents, the natural path of <br />contaminated water flow will be directly through our school building and <br />playground. I would like to be assured that our children and our community <br />are going to be fully protected from such a tragedy ever occurring. This <br />would totally disrupt all educational functions at our schoo'., as well as <br />everyday life in our community. <br />Many unanswered questions still remain . What assurance ie; the mine <br />company giving that there will not be ]each pad leaks? What assurance do <br />we have that our school is safe? What assur~azrce do the children of San L:: <br />have that their life and education would not be disrupted? How would tizc <br />mine handle the flow of flood waters in the ~n9ng areal Is there an <br />emergency evacuation plan? What safeguards is the company plan_-ring in <br />the usage and storage of toxic chemicals (cyanide in particular)? 'Who <br />would clean up any toxic spills? <br />After careful review of these problems and unanswered questions. <br />from my point of view, the safest avenue would be to relocate the leach pads <br />and place them in a safer area outside of the flood plain. This would assure <br />our students snd community that any problems with toxic spills would not <br />affect the school, and could be more easily contained. By increasing the <br />distance between the leach pads and the school the leach pads would not <br />pose such a threat to the safety of Centennial School and the community of <br />SanLuis. <br />