_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017 (142)

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i Letter to Mr. David Shelton, Director Mined Land Reclamation Division Page 2 regulations predated the State 's efforts in this regard and led to the first substantial efforts on the part of Mid- Continent to bring its environmental control methods tip to a standard imposed by a public jurisdiction. 2. Pitkin County ' s concern for llid-Continent ' s impacts have continued to the present day. Inspections of the Coal Basin mines by the County Environmental Coordinator, chanced with overall review and monitoring responsibilities , and the Environmental Health Department , charged with technical reviews of air and water-quality compliance, have continued on a semi-annual basis and status reports to the Board of Count;, Cor:missioners have been presented at least once a year since 1977 . 3 . Pitkin County recognizes that the State has more stringent environmental protection standards than the County and more enforcement personnel to ensure compliance with those stan- dards than we souls' ever hope to support. The County recog- nizes that this is an appropriate arena for State jurisdiction and we have been satisfies' that the State has been pursuing its responsibilities in this area diligently. Our revieer of monthly reports for the last four years shows that the I•_L D 's inspection and enforcement record has been thorough and consistent. Fad it not been, we would have been the first to let you know that our environmental concerns were not being addressed . We also cunt to note that we have been extremely impresses: with both the progress that Mid-Continent ha.,.; made in improving the quality of their environmental control efforts and in the innova- tion and initiative they have shown in addressing the probl erns unique to their harsh working environment. The-se efforts have, we think , not only improved the environment of Coal Basin and Coal Creek , but have given ample evidence of raid-Continent 's sincere intention to minimize impacts and comply with both the letter and the spirit of the law. At the same time there are ongoing concerns among the residents of the Crystal River Valley and on County Staff that the quality of Coal Creek and downstream waterways is not as hich as it once was or as high as it should be. We want to take this opportu!:ity to let both the State and Mid-Continent know that we are willing to participate in any joint effort to pinpoint the sources of turbidity in Coal Creek and mitigate them through cooperative efforts . In regard to the specific violations which were the impetus for the current proceedings, we would like to rote the following: