2008-04-04_APPLICATION CORRESPONDENCE - C2006085

• Permit No: C2006085
• IBM Index Class Name: APPLICATION CORRESPONDENCE
• Doc Date: 4/4/2008
• Doc Name: Comment Letter
• From: Fremont County
• To: DRMS
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Board of County Commissioners
Fremont County
615 Macon Ave., Room 105 -Canon City, Colorado 81212
Phone [phone] -Fax [phone]
Michael J. Stiehl Larry Lasha EdH.Norden
District One District T~vo DistrictThree
Apri13, 2008 ~~'~,v~0
Kent Gorham
Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safet Q 2000
Colorado Department of Natural Resources ~p~ O + ~e~~amat+or,
1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 Uw`5~~'.~ ~ aid S~e~Y
Denver, CO 80203 M`~~n9
RE: Comment,_Northfield Mine proposed ~proval
Many abandoned coal mines are in the vicinity of the Northfield Mine permitted
area. Many of these lie directly beneath the Cotter/Lincoln Park Superfund site. The
reason that the area was declared a Superfund was because old techniques at the
Cotter Uranium Mill placed tailings in unlined ponds for two decades, polluting the
groundwater with Uranium, Molybdenum, heavy metals and other radionuclides as
far away as Lincoln Park to the north. It is reasonable to assume that some, if not a
large amount, of that contamination reached the mines beneath the tailing ponds.
Much verbal history indicates that the historic mines are' hydraulically
interconnected. The Wolf Park Mine, directly below the Cotter Mill, is said to
connect directly to the Chandler mine, to the east towards Williamsburg and
Brookside. These mines operated at depths of 200 - 1000 feet, with the easternmost
workings at 250-600 feet, as they approach the Northfield Mine. Note that the
Northfield Mine also intends to work at 250-600 feet in that vicinity.
More verbal history indicates that the abandoned workings are full to the surface
with water, as evidenced by the outflow from the Chandler Vent (38-23'43"N, 105-
12'35"W), which itself is quite near the area permitted for the Northfield Mine. The
outflow is reddish orange in color, potentially indicating acid rock drainage. This
would be uncharacteristic in a native alkaline environment, and may give further
credibility to the theory that the mines are interconnected and contaminated by the
Cotter Mill, with its associated radionuclides and heavy metals, from their leaching
process.
Please see attached memo from "Chandler-Wolf Park Mine Info 1987-2007," Charles
Patterson, PhD, from EPA TAG report regarding interconnection and contamination
of mines near the Cotter Superfund site.
Fremont County possesses a complete set of mine maps "Colorado Department of
Natural Resources, Colorado Geological Survey, Mining and Surface Features,
Canon City Coal Field 1985," showing historic workings. These maps may not.
indicate any workings within the area that is permitted for the Northfield Mine, yet
workings are immediately adjacent to the west of the Northfield permitted area.
Given the uncertain accuracy of these maps and historical records, the historic
tunnels cannot be located with certainty. It is prudent to be cautious in the permitting
of mining activities in the area.