2008-04-25_PERMIT FILE - M2008010

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Letter: Response to adequacy review, Permit Application M-2008-010 412512008 page 2 any statement or commitment that "no hazardous materials are expected to be encountered and will not be brought onsite." Indeed, the word "hazardous" is not used anywhere in the document. The Mineral Rules and Regulations use the word "hazardous" in only two places: on page 60 (where it is apparently referring to hazardous use by the public), and page 78. ~ We understood that to mean just what it stated: that the Operator is required to report spills of a hazardous substance, and not that the Operator is required to identify any hazardous substances which might be used or stored on-site in the application. The Reclamation Plan does refer to "toxic oracid-forming, or toxic producing materials" on pages 20 and 21, specifically in the introduction, fourth, and eighth bullet under Section E-3, but states that those materials will not be produced or disposed of on site. This information was provided and intended to use the definition (#51) stated in Chapter 1.1 of the Mineral Rules and Regulations,2 Although it did not explicitly state that. Again, none of the items associated with either asphalt hot mix plant or concrete plant operations would seem to be covered by this definition. The Reclamation Plan, on page 22, also refers to using only "non-toxic organic materials from off-site" for soil amendment. Again, this is not referring to, or a commitment to not, use and store materials which might be, under a dictionary definition, "toxic" or "hazardous," and it was not the Operator's intent to do so. To clarify the situation, the Operator has no intent to bring any materials as defined in the Mineral Rules and Regulations onto the site, and does not expect to encounter such on site. Nor do we expect to discharge any "contaminants," as referenced on pages 70 and 71 of the Mineral Rules and Regulations.3 There are many chemicals commonly found at asphalt hot mix plants, concrete plants, and mining operations that are, in various regulations (such as EPA's "List of Lists"), considered "hazardous materials" and subject to various regulatory requirements. However, most of these are ALWAYS present at mining operations: i.e., diesel fuel (and some ~ Page 78: "The Mine Operator shall Notify the Office of a spill of any toxic or hazardous substance, including spills of petroleum products, ..." 2 "Toxic and Acid Producing Materials" means natural or reworked earth materials having acid or toxic chemical and physical characteristics that, under mining or post- mining conditions of drainage, exposure, or other processes, produce materials which contain detrimental amounts of chemical constituents such as acids, bases, or metallic compounds. s Page 71: "the toxicity, mobility, and persistence in the environment of contaminants used or stored at the facility which could reasonably be expected to be discharged from the facility;..."