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Feb. 12, 2013 <br />RECEIVED <br />FEB 121013 <br />DIVISION OF RECLAMATION <br />MINING AND SAFETY <br />The Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board <br />Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Dear Members of the Mined Land Reclamation Board, <br />INFORM <br />INFORMATION NETWORK FOR <br />RESPONSIBLE MINING <br />PO Box 746 <br />TELLURIDE, CO <br />81435-0746 <br />(212) 473 -7717 <br />jennifer@informcolorado.org <br />www.informcolorado.org <br />Via email to russ.means @state.co.us, Jeff.Fugate @state.co.us, Joretta.pineda @state.co.us <br />Re: Objection to Notice of Temporary Cessation, Cotter Corporation JD -9 Mine, 112(d) Permit <br />No. M- 1977 -306 <br />The Information Network for Responsible Mining is a Colorado -based citizens organization that <br />advocates for the protection of communities and the environment and actively participates in <br />mining reviews. Our members and staff have an interest in the environmental health and <br />conditions of mined lands in Colorado and are directly and adversely affected by the JD -9 Mine, <br />located in western Montrose County. INFORM has longstanding concerns about the idle state of <br />the JD -9, the surface disturbances and the location of the mine in close proximity to Bull Canyon <br />and the Dolores River, among many other environmental issues related to the presence of a <br />uranium mine in sensitive areas. <br />The JD -9 Mine is not in compliance with the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act and it has <br />been inactive for at least 29 of the previous 32 years. Cotter Corporation has been able to escape <br />compliance with the Act by relying on an unlawful status as an intermittent operation following a <br />10 -year period of temporary cessation between 1980 and 1990. Throughout most of this mine's <br />permitted history, and along with other Cotter - permitted mines in the area, Cotter has resisted the <br />Division's directions and repeatedly challenged regulations and policies intended to protect the <br />environment, water quality and the public from contamination problems associated with uranium <br />mining Most recently, the Division reiterated the noncompliance of the JD -9 with the Act and <br />