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not rule in the Order on the issue of whether mine dewatering and treatment would not have <br />more than a minor effect upon the approved or proposed Reclamation or Environmental <br />Protection Plan. <br />Mine dewatering and treatment clearly would have more than a minor effect. On behalf <br />of the Division, David Bird testified that Corrective Action No. 2 would be expensive. Tr. of <br />Hearing at 31:4-5. Susan Wyman on behalf of Cotter testified about the difficulty and <br />infeasibility of installing a pump and attempting to pump the water down 500 feet below the <br />Steve Level. Tr. of Hearing at 100:16 to 103:9. Moreover, Randy Whicker of Cotter testified <br />about safety and access issues. Tr. of Hearing at 131:18 to 135:25. Any refurbishment of the <br />mine would take considerable time and resources to implement, would require substantial <br />excavation of wall rocks, and would involve other technical and safety challenges. Cotter <br />Rebuttal at 14-15; Rationale at 7-11: Tr. of Hearing at 135:8-18. <br />V. The Board Should Reconsider the Amount of Civil Penalties It Has Assessed. <br />The Board should reconsider the amount of civil penalties it has assessed because such <br />amount is based on violations linked to the mine pool and, as set forth above, no such violations <br />exist. Civil penalties may be assessed under the Act only where a person "violates any provision <br />of any permit issued under this article ...." Colo. Rev. Stat. § 34-32-124(7). Here, the Board <br />has indisputably assessed civil penalties against Cotter for perceived violations involving the <br />mine pool. Order at 9. However, as discussed in section I. above, the mine pool does not <br />provide a basis for finding any violation of the Act or of any permit issued to Cotter under the <br />Act. Under these circumstances, the Board should reconsider the amount of penalties it has <br />ordered. Cotter respectfully submits that such amount should be decreased substantially where, <br />as here, the mine pool provides no basis to assess penalties and Cotter has already timely <br />implemented a water treatment system for the alluvium in accordance with the Order. <br />20