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Mr. Ebert: <br />September 8, 2011 <br />Mr. Jared Ebert <br />Department of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver CO 80203 <br />UPPER CLEAR CREEK <br />WATERSHED ASSOCIATION <br />P. O. BOB 3058 <br />IDAHO SPRINGS, CO 80452 <br />This letter is in response to the Notice of Intent to Prospect on the Bear Hug claim, P- 2001 -028, submitted by Terry <br />Winters. The Upper Clear Creek Watershed Association (UCCWA) supports legitimate mining ventures that will <br />maintain or improve water quality in Clear Creek. Clear Creek provides drinking water to 300,000 Colorado citizens. <br />This is a highly used and over allocated stream. As such, water quality within this stream is critical to its many users. <br />The Upper Clear Creek Watershed Association is an interested party because potential impacts to water quality in Clear <br />Creek can affect our members in two ways: <br />• If the metals are increased in Clear Creek, our wastewater treatment plants will be required to reduce metals in <br />their outflows even though they are not the source of the change; <br />• Several members take drinking water from sites downstream of the Bear Hug claim site. <br />As described, this is a fairly small operation. Nevertheless, UCCWA is concerned the applicant has not provided <br />adequate information to allow reasonable consideration of the potential harm to surface or subsurface waters. Process <br />descriptions are unclear. <br />Our concerns include: <br />• Possible sulfide content of material from the holes and its possible exposure to precipitation before the material <br />is returned to the holes <br />• How the waste is captured from the trommel <br />• How the process water will be disposed <br />• How much previously mined material will be disturbed <br />• Proximity of all planned prospecting activity to waterways <br />We strongly suggest the following information be required before prospecting on the Bear Hug claim be permitted: <br />• A plan for disposition of process water <br />• A plan for disposition of excess material that does not fit back into the holes <br />• A plan for disposition of concentrate and tails from the concentrator <br />• Characterization of the site to show the extent of previously mined material that may be disturbed and how <br />much of the project area is underlain by previously mined material <br />Thank you for your consideration of these comments. As a courtesy, we are providing a copy of this letter to the <br />applicant. <br />Holly Hick, CC Chair <br />cc: Mr. Winters <br />