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WESTERN MINING ACTION PROJECT <br />Roger Flynn, Esq., <br />Jeffrey C. Parsons, Esq. <br />P.O. Box 349 <br />440 Main Street, Suite 2 <br />Lyons, CO 80540 <br />(303) 823-5738 <br />Fax (303) 823-5732 <br />wmapgi,gc.org <br />via email <br />December 24, 2009 <br />Valois Shea <br />U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 <br />8P-W-GW, UIC <br />1595 Wynkoop Street <br />Denver, CO 80202 <br />shea.valoisnepa. gov <br />RE: Proposed Underground Injection Control Program (UIC) Permit (Permit Number: <br />C051237-08412). <br />Dear Ms. Shea: <br />Thank you for the opportunity to comment on your agency's proposal to issue an Underground <br />Injection Control Program (UIC) Permit (Permit Number: C051237-08412) for Powertech (USA) <br />Incorporated's ("Powertech") proposed aquifer pump test in the Fox Hills Aquifer in Weld County, <br />Colorado. As discussed in our comment letter submitted July 24, 2009 relating to the same permit <br />application, the draft permit cannot be legally issued as proposed due to the lack of substantial <br />additional information necessary to demonstrate the ability of the permit applicant to protect <br />underground sources of drinking water. The points and issues raised in that July 24, 2009 letter, <br />including attached exhibits, are expressly incorporated and adopted herein. For your convenience, the <br />July 24, 2009 letter is attached (sans exhibits). <br />Unfortunately, despite the fact that some five months have elapsed since the submission of <br />comments identifying the need for additional information, it appears that EPA has declined to request <br />this information, review the same, or provide it to the public as part of this permitting exercise. This <br />information includes additional baseline data on the water quality of both the injectate and the receiving <br />water, and a demonstration that the documented substantial historic exploration drilling in the area of the <br />proposed permit will not result in contamination of adjacent aquifers, including underground sources of <br />drinking water. Lastly, the EPA must review any information obtained through any previous aquifer <br />pump tests conducted in the area, as such data provides relevant information as to potential threats to <br />local drinking water supplies. This is particularly true given the documents in the EPA record from <br />Powertech (also submitted to the State of Colorado Division or Reclamation Mining and Safety) relying <br />extensively on conclusions as to the protection of drinking water purported to have been derived by <br />Powertech from data obtained in previous pump tests. Absent agency and public review of this same <br />data and any reports derived therefrom, these assumptions are unsupported by the record, and thus