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McStone Aggregates LLC to DRMS, Response to comment letters 19 May 2008 Page 2 <br />feel very fortunate to have more than enough irrigation water to allow us to significantly speed <br />up the reestablishment of cropland grasses in reclaimed areas. <br />4. Air pollution issues related to reclamation. All agricultural land, including cropland and pasture, <br />has some potential for air emissions, but these emissions are generally regulated by APCD <br />and addressed as necessary. There are many areas of irrigated, semi-irrigated, and dryland <br />cropland in Montezuma County, and some do have releases of particulate matter. Those <br />issues should be addressed to APCD as appropriate. We believe that our property will have <br />better than average control of dust issues from agricultural operations, because of the <br />availability of irrigation water, and the post-mining changes in terrain. These will aid in the <br />reestablishment of cropland and grasses and provide for better shelter from the wind. <br />5. Existing pit issues: McStone Aggregates does not own or operate any other pits in the Mancos <br />Valley and has no control over those operations. <br />Ms. Neva's letter: <br />1. Items mentioned in the third paragraph (no. 25, no. 27, and no. 28) apparently refer to the <br />Montezuma County High Impact Permit. We understand-Ms. Neva's concern for the impact of <br />our operations on her property, and have taken those concerns into account from the very <br />beginning of our planning and application for this pit. We believe that we answered these <br />concerns to the satisfaction of the BOCC and made a commitment to the BOCC to plant <br />additional trees to further buffer noise and view of our operations from the Neva home. We <br />shall abide by state and county standards for noise, odors, and dust/smoke/particulate on the <br />shared property line between our land and Ms. Neva's. <br />2. All the information regarding traffic counts, sight distances, speeds, and existing access points <br />was made available to CDOT in our application for an access permit, which was approved by <br />CDOT (as discussed above). The CDOT access control and traffic safety persons responsible <br />reviewed this information, inspected the site, and determined that acceleration and <br />deceleration lanes were not necessary at this location. We are required to keep traffic limits <br />and to make improvements to our access point by CDOT before operating the pit. This . <br />information and requirement satisfied both the Montezuma Board of County Commissioners <br />and the Colorado Department of Transportation. <br />3. We believe that we can meet or exceed all federal, state, and local requirements for control of <br />emissions, reclamation, and other regulated matters. We have sought out the concerns of the <br />residents around our site and will always listen to and respond to anyone contacting us and <br />identifying potential problems, especially people who are our immediate neighbors. <br />4. The permitting of the site for washing and crushing of aggregate, concrete batch plant, and <br />asphalt (hot mix) plant is included in the DRMS application, but also requires issuance of <br />permits by Montezuma County (under the High Impact process) and by APCD. These permits <br />and the process of issuing (or denying) those permits takes the issues that Ms. Neva raised <br />into consideration. At present, the Montezuma Board of County Commissioners has denied <br />the specific request to approve the concrete and asphalt plants, pending litigation on another <br />zoning issue, but will allow us to resubmit those requests at a future time. If allowed by <br />Montezuma County and APCD, we do intend to have such plants operating on at least a <br />limited basis in the pit, at distances of several thousand feet from the Neva house. Such <br />operations would have to meet the same requirements for noise, odors, and dust as other <br />operations on the site, as mandated by county and state regulations and permits. <br />5. We appreciate Ms. Neva's love for the beautiful ponds on her property, and for the wildlife <br />which use those ponds. We have taken the need to protect and preserve those ponds into