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2013-02-12_REVISION - M1977451
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2013-02-12_REVISION - M1977451
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Entry Properties
Last modified
4/14/2022 10:00:29 AM
Creation date
2/13/2013 3:36:13 PM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
DRMS Permit Index
Permit No
M1977451
IBM Index Class Name
REVISION
Doc Date
2/12/2013
Doc Name
OBJECTIONS TO TC-02
From
INFORM
To
DRMS
Type & Sequence
TC2
Email Name
GRM
Media Type
D
Archive
No
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Cessation with the Division on Dec. 15, 2012. Unfortunately, allowing Cotter Corporation to <br />enter a period of temporary cessation at the SR -11 allows the company, once again, to maintain <br />the status quo and avoid a full reclamation of a mine that effectively shut its doors more than 29 <br />years ago. Therefore, we object to the current Notice of Temporary Cessation for the following <br />reasons: <br />1) The Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act speaks unambiguously of the production of ore <br />as a requirement for retaining a reclamation permit at C.R.S. § 34- 32- 103(6)(a)(I) by specifically <br />requiring that an operator "engage in the extraction of minerals" in order for a reclamation <br />permit to remain in effect. The only exceptions to this requirement are for a mine to either be in <br />full reclamation or to be in an approved period of temporary cessation, limited to two five -year <br />periods. Neither exception applies to this mine According to the annual reports filed for the <br />SR -11 Mine since at least 1983, no ore has actually been produced and supporting activities have <br />been minimal. According to a Division review conducted on May 16, 2007, the only significant <br />activity at the SR -11 under the current operator occurred between July 2005 and November <br />2005, when Cotter Corporation pocked the mine waste dump, worked on a stormwater berm, and <br />began to drive a new decline. According to Cotter's amendment application filed with the <br />Division on Oct. 1, 2012, however, development work at the mine was not completed and must <br />be finished before ore can be produced. Despite the minimal activities during 2005 that were of a <br />token nature, the SR -11 has been a dormant, idle mine for the vast majority of its permitted <br />history. <br />2) The SR-11 Mine was in two consecutive periods of temporary cessation until Oct. 30, 1990, <br />when the Division approved a technical revision to change the mine to intermittent status, even <br />though it did not meet the legal requirements of that status, which requires it to continue <br />operating and produce ore on an annual basis. The permit continued in that unlawful status for <br />the next 22 years. The Division clearly notified Cotter of the noncompliant status of the SR -11 <br />Mine on Nov. 9, 2012. <br />3) The Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act states unequivocally that a mine must be <br />reclaimed after a decade of inactivity. The law says: "In no case shall temporary cessation of <br />production be continued for more than ten years without terminating the operation and fully <br />complying with the reclamation requirements of this article." [Please see C.R.S. § 34- 32- 103(6) <br />(a)(III).] Because the SR -11 has not "produced" as required by the Act, Cotter is ineligible for an <br />additional five -year period of temporary cessation. <br />4) Denial of the Notice of Temporary Cessation status is consistent with Colorado law and will <br />help bring this mine into prompt compliance once the attached injunction applicable to the <br />Department of Energy lease tracts is lifted. The pending federal court injunction was issued on <br />Oct. 18, 2011, and modified on Feb. 27, 2012, and cannot serve to excuse decades of inactivity <br />and deferred reclamation at this or other uranium mines <br />
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