Laserfiche WebLink
• <br />III 1111111111111111 • <br />999 <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY <br />Drpdnmenl of Natural Re>ources <br />I l I 1 Shuman 51., Rnnm '15 <br />D~~nrcr. Colorado yU2Ul <br />Phone: i}qll H66-35n7 <br />F~\A: UU;~ if;'~01 Ub <br />October ~, 1995 <br />Ms. Susan Campbell-Bell <br />Friends of South bontezuma Valley, [ne. <br />P. O. Box 3l2 <br />Cortez, CO 81321 <br />RE: Stone Gravel Pit, Permit No. N1-97-089 <br />Dear Ms. Campbell-Bell: <br />~~~ <br />DEP.gRT~bIENT OF <br />NATURAL. <br />RESOURCE <br />Rov Romer <br />Cmernnr <br />lames 5. Lochhrarl <br />E.ecuuve Drrecror <br />~trichael 8. Lung <br />Dmismn D~reanr <br />This letter is in response to your September 30, 1998 correspondence, regazding the above-referenced <br />operation. I have read your letter carefully and, in addition, have obtained information from <br />Mr. Erickson, regarding his account of what was said in the telephone conversations referenced in your <br />correspondence. Mr. Erickson has also provided a summary list of the letters of objection that you and <br />your attorney filed during the application review period, plus the six complaint letters that DMG <br />received from you and/or the Friends of South Montezuma Valley, Inc., since the permit was issued. <br />After reviewing the information from both parties carefully, it appears that there has been some <br />miscorrununication and/or misunderstanding between DMG staff and the Friends of South Montezuma <br />Valley, Inc., regarding the DMG's policies and procedures for conducing inspections of permitted gravel <br />mining operations in response to citizen complaints. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to <br />briefly explain the Division's inspection and enforcement procedures, as well as how the staff must <br />prioritize their duties, in the face of a considerable work load, in order to ensure that the full range of <br />mandated regulatory responsibilities aze each carried out adequately. <br />Division and Board policy requue that all citizen complaints shall be responded to promptly. If a citizen <br />complaint contains allegations, associated with a mine, of serious environmental problems that are <br />within the DMG's jurisdiction to address or involve potential violations of permit conditions, rules or <br />statutes, an inspection shall be conducted as soon as possible. Otherwise, the site is to be inspected <br />within 30 days of receipt of the complaint. Where a potential violation may exist, the staff has l0 days, <br />by statute, to provide an inspection report to the operator. Where the operator is found in compliance, <br />the staff has 30 days to complete an inspection report. Exceptions to this policy are situations where an <br />inspection has already been conducted within the previous year, and the DMG staff believes that no <br />significant environmental concerns within the DMG's jurisdiction are likely to exist. The Division may <br />choose to not inspect a site where the DMG staff finds the complaint to be part of a pattern of similar <br />complaints directed against a particular mining project and past inspections have shown the operator [o <br />be in compliance. This does not mean, however, that the Division will not investigate the complain[. <br />It is our practice to investigate all written complaints using methods appropriate to the circumstances <br />and our work load at [he time. <br />