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CRYSTAL VALLEY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ASSOCIATION, INC. <br /> BOX 921,CARBONDALE,COLORADO 81623 <br /> RECEIVED <br /> September 3 , 1998 <br /> DIV. OF MINERALS <br /> 8 GEOLOGY <br /> Dorothea Farris, Chairman <br /> Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners <br /> Pitkin County Courthouse <br /> Aspen, CO 81E11 <br /> Re: COAL BASIN RECLAMATION <br /> Dear Chairman Farris: <br /> With some urgency I am writing to you on behalf of CVEPA <br /> regarding developments which threaten to bring to a premature end <br /> the reclamation work now in progress in Coal Basin. Pitkin <br /> County's participation and help to avert this result are very <br /> much needed. <br /> First, we ask that Pitkin County use its standing as a party of <br /> record in Pitkin County District Court case 097CV131-3 , to <br /> litigate against Mid-Continent Resources' (MCR) attempt to have <br /> the court stop the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology <br /> (DMG) from completing various projects essential to reclamation. <br /> Second, we ask that Pitkin County co-sponsor with CVEPA (and <br /> perhaps other interested organizations in the area) (1) an <br /> independent evaluation, by a recognized expert, of the <br /> reclamation work done to date by the DMG, and (2) an estimate of <br /> the costs of the reclamation work that remains to be done to <br /> stabilize the watershed and minimize erosion and sediment <br /> Pollution. Such an objective evaluation and estimate would be <br /> useful in court and could be effective in persuading DMG and the <br /> Federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM) to take the necessary <br /> steps to see that the disturbed areas in Coal Basin are fully <br /> reclaimed. CVEPA is prepared to pay a substantial portion of the <br /> cost of such an evaluation and estimate and has identified an <br /> independent mining reclamation consultant well qualified for the <br /> task. . <br /> The basis for these requests will be apparent in the attached <br /> statement which I ask you and the other members of the Board of <br /> County Commissioners (BOCC) to read. <br /> In conclusion, I would only remind you of the enormous importance <br /> of Coal Basin to Redstone, to the Crystal River valley, and to <br />