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AFIR-60-472 "I UE- 10:47 <br />"M 1=UUt41H1M. %:;1_4UHKt. L 1 L <br />RETA ZAIRE <br />1205 Lane 23 <br />Pueblo, Colorado 81006 <br />Telephone 719-545-5441 <br />Division of Minerals and Geology <br />Office of Mined Land Reclamation <br />1313 Sherman St., Rxn 215 <br />Denver, Colorado $0203 <br />Re., Rio Grande Portlaud Cement Company's Reclamation Permit <br />Dear Sir„ <br />r I- a (o ' C'nQ <br />"' <br /> <br />I have been a resident of Pueblo County for the past forty years. For (he last eighteen <br />of those years I have resided at the above address where I garden organically and cultivate <br />approximately two hundred species of herbs, natives and perennials. I am writing to <br />comment on the Reclamation Permit application submitted by the Rio Grande Portland <br />Cement Company. ThLi permitting process and reclamation plan is a very complex one, <br />and I found it very disturbing, even appalligg that the data submitted by the cement <br />company was in many instances inadequate, undocumented, nonspecific, incomplete, <br />invalid and blatantly wrong. My concerns are many. That a company needing such an <br />important permit to do business would do such a shallow, and sloppy investigation of the <br />area, and offer such weal: evidence as fact demonstrates either their total inability to <br />conduct business in a manner that is not detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of <br />the people of our city, or their total disregard, disrespect even of the people of this city, <br />the environment in which we live, and the future of our precious land and water. <br />I do not believe revegetation of the hand with native grasses is possible by the methods <br />outlined in the permit application, and failure to reclaim this laud properly and expediently <br />will greatly add to the fugitive dust we can expect to experience, and to Rather loss of <br />wildge habitats. <br />Many questions and issues regarding water, our most valuable resource have not been <br />answered. The quantity and quality of our surface and groundwater during and after <br />mir»ng has not been addressed. In and and semi-arid areas sucks, as ours where salinity <br />and sodicity must be controlled, drainage investigations should be very complete and <br />specific. Their plan is neither. I could locate no information on tests conducted to detect <br />water tables, determine variabhty of substrata materials, field tests for permeability etc. <br />In addition the Rio Grande's Stoma Water Discharge permit did not include a site map, <br />address and or identify potential sources of pollution, imIuding sediment that may affect <br />the quality of storm water discharges and did not describe any plan or practice to be <br />implemented to reduce such levels of pollutants in the storm water discharges. Further <br />their application for Well perrnits were flawed, the stated midilum-water requirements of <br />the cement plant are in excess of what all three wel is they have applied for can provide, <br />e-ma if all three wells were permitted. Just where do they expect this extra water to conic