Laserfiche WebLink
999 <br /> VRANESH AND RAISCH, LLC <br /> ATTORNEYS AT LAW <br /> JERRY W RAISCH 1720 14TJi STREET, SUITE 200 GEORGE VRANESH (RETIRED) <br /> JOHN R. HENDERSON <br /> M ICHAEL O.SHIM MIN P.0. BOX 671 GREGORY J. CLIFTON <br /> EUGENE J. RIORDAN BOULDER, COLD RA00 80306 THOMAS MORRIS <br /> PAUL J.ZILIS <br /> BRIAN M. NAZARENUS TELEPHONE 303/443-6151 <br /> DOUGLAS A. GOULDING �T,ELLECOPIER 303/443-9566 <br /> fiMarch 18, 1994 <br /> Amelia Whiting, Esq. <br /> Attorney General' s Office <br /> Natural Resources Section <br /> 1525 Sherman Street, Sth Floor <br /> Denver, Colorado 80203 <br /> Re : Sunnyside Gold Corporation <br /> Dear Mely: <br /> Enclosed is a copy of the NWF v. Gorsuch case that I promised <br /> to send to you. I 'm sorry it took me longer to get it to you than <br /> anticipated but I wanted to re-read it in light of our meeting last <br /> week. After re-reading it, I am even more certain that it provides <br /> strong authority for Sunnyside' s position that the Division has no <br /> authority to require a discharge permit for seeps that may occur <br /> after the plugging of the mine tunnel . <br /> As pointed out on page 1110, five elements must be present to <br /> require an NPDES permit : 11 (1) a pollutant must be (2) added (3) to <br /> navigable waters (4) from (5) a point source. " The parties in the <br /> case agreed that there was no dispute over the "point source" or <br /> "navigable waters" issues . The case focused on whether certain <br /> parameters, such as low D.O. , cold and supersaturation were <br /> "pollutants" and whether any of the water quality problems <br /> constituted the "addition" of a pollutant . With respect to the <br /> former, the court upheld EPA' s determination that the parameters at <br /> issue were not "pollutants . " More importantly, the court upheld <br /> EPA' s determination that there was no "addition" of pollutants from <br /> a point source . See pages 1119 and 1120 . <br /> The court noted that the NPDES permit system did not apply to <br /> "all pollution released through a point source, " page 1120 . <br /> Assuming for the sake of argument that a seep is a point source and <br /> that it releases "pollution, " it does not add a pollutant and thus <br /> is not subject to the permit requirement . As we explained when we <br /> met , we do not expect mine water to be released from seeps or <br /> springs . Therefore, any pollution that may be released by seeps <br /> will be naturally present in the ground water and will not contain <br /> pollutants from the mine water. <br /> The NWF case also recognized that EPA chose not to regulate <br /> discharges from dams as point sources under §402 but rather left it <br /> l\N\�N\NCNOYIT\KNIT[INI <br />