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CRUSTAL VALLEY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ASSOCIATION, INC. <br /> BOX 9-21 f!-A T]DOND♦T C n/lT G A T1/) 8 <br /> 1623 <br /> � <br /> RECEIVED- <br /> May 14, 1998 JUN 45 1998 <br /> Division of Minerals&Geology <br /> Richard Seibel <br /> Regional Director <br /> Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement <br /> 1999 Broadway, Suite 3320 <br /> Denver, CO 80202-5733 <br /> Re: CITIZEN COMPLAINT ALLEGING THE FAILURE OF THE <br /> STATE OF COLORADO TO ENSURE COMPLETE RECLAMATION OF <br /> MID-CONTINENT RESOURCES' MINED LANDS IN COAL BASIN <br /> Mr. Seibel: <br /> This is to request a review under 30 CFR 842 . 15 of OSM's finding <br /> as stated in OSM*s April 28, 1,998 letter to me that the State has <br /> adequately addressed the above-referenced complaint, and of OSM's <br /> finding that it is not necessary for OSM to perform an <br /> independent estimate of the cost of completing reclamation or to <br /> file suit against the responsible parties to recover costs of <br /> reclamation. <br /> I find that OSM's assessment is deficient to the point of <br /> carelessness on all counts. Is the State's response adequate <br /> when, in Ms. McCannon's letter, it asserts that it "has held the <br /> permittee liable for the cost of reclamation, as evidenced by on- <br /> going civil proceedings. " Doesn't that mean that the State is <br /> now suing Mid-Continent Resources and its principals for the cost <br /> of reclamation? Really? Is that true? Do the facts bear this <br /> out? Do the facts show that the State is holding the permittee <br /> liable for the full cost of reclamation, or that it is sparing <br /> the permittee administrative costs, and a variety of other costs <br /> which it is covering by using public funds, or grants from other <br /> sources, or volunteers? Why suggest--as OSM's letter does--that <br /> reclamation might be completed without additional funds to those <br /> generated through bankruptcy, when the State's own accounting <br /> shows otherwise? Or if there is some doubt about the State's <br /> estimates, why indeed doesn't OSM do its own? <br /> The State's and OSM's failure to deal adequately with these <br /> issues will result in these adverse effects: continued pollution <br /> of Coal Creek and the Crystal River due to failure to control <br /> erosion of the mined lands, and imposition of costs of <br /> reclamation on public entities instead of on the permittee as the <br /> law requires. As a resident of the area and as a taxpayer I, <br /> along with many others, am thus affected adversely. <br />