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~ • VRANESH nND RAISCH, LLC • ATTORNEYS AT LAW JERRY W. RAISCH I l20 Ia~Y STq EET, SUITE 200 JOHN R. MENDERSON P. O. BO% 6> I MICHAEL D. $nIMMIN EuccnE J. RlogoAN BOULDER, COLORADO 80306-0871 PAUL J. ZILIS TELEPHONE ]O]/4a]-6151 TELECOPIER 303/aa3-9568 GEORGC VNANE6M IRCTIRE01 TNOMwS MORRIS REC:EI\/ED NOV 2 71996 October 16, 1996 The Honorable Governor Roy Romer 136 State Capitol Bldg. Denver, Colorado 80203 Division of mnrorais a ueuiogy Re: Thomas S. Hendricks; Unreasonable Regulation and the Death of Mining Dear Governor Romer: I am writing to you on behalf of Tom Hendricks. Mr. Hendricks is the President of Hendricks Mining Co. of Nederland, Colorado. Mr. Hendricks has operated the Cross Mine at Caribou since 1974, an operation which has been the recipient of at least one environmental award from your office, and many more from other sources. Hendricks runs a model mining operation long held up as an example by regulators, yet still at risk of being forced out of business by regulation run amuck. Recent events, of which you may be only partly aware, have had a substantial impact on Mr. Hendricks' attempts to remain in business. Fps these problems are continuing, I felt they should be brought to your attention. Opinion in much of the mining community appears to be "If Tom Hendricks can't satisfy the State, nobody can." They may be right, and that belief has contributed to the impression that Colorado is closed to mining. The Cross Mine is in the Grand Island Mining District, a district with no history of acid mine drainage, and extremely good water quality. Ttie stream environment below the mine is a thriving riparian ecosystem; when the stream, Coon Track Creek, becomes wide enough to support trout, there is a thiriving population. There has never been any identified environmental problen-I at the mine or in the stream system below.