2002-05-02_PERMIT FILE - M2002004 (4)

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05/02/2002 16:06 4716922 EILAND LAW PAGE 06 Surface and Ground Water Protection CCAP's members are deeply concerned about protecting the quality and quantity of both ground and surface water because thousands of families depend on the water from the Dakota and Cheyenne aquifers for daily survival. In drought years like this one, when the Dakota aquifer will not be recharged at the usual rate because there is little snowmelt expected from the Greenhorn and Wet Mountains, this issue is especially critical. Water - General Requirements: Contamination by Blasting Agent: Rio Grande's permit application does not meet the requirements of Rule 3.1.6 (11 which states that "disturbances to the ... quality of water in surface and groundwater systems both during and after the mining operation and during reclamation shall be minimized by measures including, but not limited to, ... [(b)] compliance with ... statewide water quality standards and site-specific classifications and standards adopted by the Water Quality Control Commission" and provision (3), which requires all surfaces of the affected land to be "stabilized and protected so as to effectively control erosion." The mining plan provides no analysis of the effects on water of its intended blasting agent. CCAP's research suggests that the St. Charles River, Greenhorn Creek, and the two aquifers underlying the area, the Dakota and Cheyenne Aquifers, will become contaminated from the fifteen tons of ammonium nitrate mixed with diesel fuel oil Rio Grande intends to use each week as a blasting agent in the mining operation. These water sources are used by surrounding residents for wells, farming, and watering cattle The St. Charles River flows into the Arkansas River, a prime source of irrigation water. The EPA has recognized the dangers to water supplies from the use of ammonium nitrate both as a fertilizer and as a blasting agent used for mining. The nitrates and nitrites left after combustion do not bind to soils. They do not evaporate, and they have a high potential to migrate to groundwater. Nitrates and nitrites remain in water until they are consumed by humans, animals, plants, or other organisms. The maximum containment level for safe drinking water is 10 PPM for nitrates and only one PPM for nitrites. The mining plan calls for pneumatically loading 3601bs. of ammonium nitrate and diesel fuel oil into a 30' by 36' deep bore hold for each 15' by 12' by 30' block. The area described in the application for weekly mining means 80 such holes will be used each week. Lacking sufficient oxygen for this operation under such conditions, and the tremendous amount of materials being used, suggests that contamination will soon follow. Water from daily spraying of the area for dust control and runoff will eventually seep into the aquifers through porous limestone and sandstone, carrying contaminants with it. Future illnesses resulting from nitrate and nitrite contamination, should they occur, could cost the state a significant amount of money-much more in lawsuits than will ever be collected in royalties from this company over the next 50 years. Topsoil that has been on the surface