2012-10-01_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - M1977306 ‎(3)‎

• Permit No: M1977306
• IBM Index Class Name: GENERAL DOCUMENTS
• Doc Date: 10/1/2012
• Doc Name: TC Response
• From: Cotter
• To: DRMS
• Permit Index Doc Type: General Correspondence
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Cotter
October 1, 2012
Via Hand Delivery
Mr. G. Russell Means
Acting Senior Environmental Protection Specialist
Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety
Grand Junction Field Office
101 S. Third St., Room 301
Grand Junction, CO 81501
Re: Status of the JD -9 Mine, Permit No. M- 1977 -306
Dear Mr. Means:
This letter responds to your letters dated January 24, 2012 and September 5, 2012, regarding the
status of the JD -9 Mine in Montrose County, Colorado, Permit No. M- 1977 -306. The JD -9 Mine
is currently in intermittent status.
In your January 24, 2012 letter, you explain that the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety
( "Division ") is reviewing its files for all intermittent hard rock mining operations to ensure that
they are in compliance with the Mined Land Reclamation Act ( "Act "), C.R.S. §§ 34 -32 -101 to
-127, and the Rules and Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board ( "Board ")
for Hard Rock, Metal and Designated Mining Operations, 2 C.C.R. § 407 -1 ( "Rules "). Further,
you request that Cotter Corporation (N.S.L.) ( "Cotter ") provide certain information to the
Division for the JD -9 Mine by October 1, 2012. Your September 5, 2012 letter is a follow -up to
your January 24, 2012 letter, and does not request that Cotter provide additional information
beyond what is requested in the January 24, 2012 letter. This letter provides the information that
you have requested. It also shows that Cotter is in full compliance with the Act and the Rules.
In numbered paragraph 1) of your January 24, 2012 letter, you request that Cotter provide a
detailed and specific narrative description of the "active mining activities" that have occurred at
the "site" during the past year. In 2011, Cotter built storm water catchment ponds below the JD-
9 Mine dump and re- worked the power supply for the venthole fan at the JD -9 Mine. Additional
active mining activity has been limited by the United States District Court for the District of
Colorado. On October 18, 2011, the District Court enjoined the United States Department of
Energy ( "DOE ") from approving any activities on lands governed by the Uranium Lease
Management Program ( "ULMP "), including "exploration, drilling, mining, and reclamation
activities." See Colorado Environmental Coalition v. Office of Legacy Management, 819 F.
Supp. 2d 1193, 1224 -225 (D. Colo. 2011). Although the District Court subsequently amended
its injunction to exclude from the injunction's scope certain maintenance and reclamation
activities and other work, it did not exclude from the injunction and, accordingly, still does not
authorize "exploration, drilling, [and] mining" on ULMP lands. See Colorado Environmental
Coalition v. Office of Legacy Management, 2012 WL 628547 (D. Colo. Feb. 27, 2012). Cotter
Cotter Corporation - West Slope Operations Telephone [phone]
P.O. Box 700, 28151 DD Road, Nucla, CO 81424 USA Fax [phone]