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i~«aiii~~niuiii July 19, 1998 Ms. Christina L. Kamnikar Division of Minerals and Geology Department of Natural Resources 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 penver, Colorado 80203-2273 Dear Ms. Kamnikar, RECEIVED JUL Z 4 ~ DIV. OF MINERALS 8 GEOLOrv The St. Vrain Valley Community Watchdogs want to thank you for sending us a copy of your inspection report on Southdown Corporation dated 6/12/98. Our initial complaint focused on the air pollution from baghouse dust that was blowing out of Southdown's old quarry. That problem was corrected when Southdown complied with a directive from the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment to cover the dust so that it was not exposed to the wind. Southdown installed a spray system at the new disposal site that appears to be containing the baghouse dust from exposure to the wind. On June i7. 1998 eight members of our community based environmental protection team met with three officials from Southdown, Mr. Lohr, Mr. Mossberg, and Mr Heintz, Vice President of Environmental Affairs from the corporate office in Houston. One item on the agenda was an analysis of a photograph of air pollution coming from the plant. The officials acknowledged that housekeeping practices at the plant were not up to par. They said that steps would be taken to correct this problem, but so far there is no change. The photograph that we are enclosing shows high concentrations of particulates blowing off the property--from buildings, from stockpiled materials, and from the infrastructure of roadways and parking lots. This is an unacceptable situation for the people who live downwind; who suffer when these particulates filter out on their skin, their eyes, and into their lungs. These incidents are episodic, and they appear to fall through the cracks of inspections. fugitive dust control plans, and other Lermit stipulations. They are, however, real incidents of high risk air pollution, and the incidents have aroused legitimate health concerns among residents of this community. Would the Department of Minerals and Geology be able to assist us with an analysis specific to the particulates blowing off Southdown's property? With health issues at stake, we do not want to rely on published descriptions that are generic, but we would like to know the subtle compositional nature and the minerological components of the particulates that are going airborne. Because of the nature of the mining and processing activities at Southdown, it is possible that crystalline silica (classified by IARC in 1996 as a known human carcinogen)` may be present in the dust that is blowing into the breathing environment of the community.