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t o 6 I/? --- <br />Z J zv2o <br />BEFORE THE MINED LAND RECLAMATION BOARD <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />THE DIVISION OF RECLAMATION MINING AND SAFETY'S RESPONSE TO r <br />COTTER CORPORATION'S JUNE 21, 2010 SUBMITTAL TO THE DIVISION'S <br />NOTICE OF REASON TO BELIEVE A VIOLATION EXISTS LETTER <br />CONCERNING COTTER'S PERMIT NO. M-1977-300 REGARDING THE <br />SCHWARTZWALDER MINE ? <br />The Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety ("Division" or "DRMS") <br />hereby responds as follows to Cotter Corporation's ("Cotter") June 21, 2010 submittal <br />to the Division's May 21, 2010, Notice of Reason to Believe a Violation Exists Letter <br />regarding Cotter Corporation's Permit No. M-1977-300 for its Schwartzwalder Mine. <br />PREFACE <br />The basic fact of this case is that the Schwartzwalder Mine, located about 7 <br />miles from Golden, is polluting ground water and surface water (Ralston Creek), with <br />elevated levels of uranium that exceed stream standards. Ralston Creek flows into <br />Ralston Reservoir, which is a drinking water source for Denver, Arvada and others. <br />Denver Water has told the Division that since October 2008 uranium concentrations <br />in Ralston Creek entering Ralston Reservoir have risen steadily to over 500 gg/L. See <br />attached May 14, 2010, letter from Denver Water. <br />The primary issue to be decided here is what corrective actions are needed to <br />address the violations at this site. The Division believes that Cotter should be <br />required to, among other things: <br />(1) Reinitiate a water treatment system to treat all water reporting to Sump No. 1 by <br />no later than July 31, 2010; <br />(2) Reinitiate mine dewatering and water discharge treatment sufficient to bring the <br />mine water table (mine pool) to a level of at least 500 feet below the Steve level and <br />sufficient to reestablish a hydraulic gradient away from Ralston Creek, by no later <br />than July 31, 2010; and <br />(3) Submit a permit amendment application by no later than August 1, 2010 to <br />address unresolved details concerning Cotter's environmental protection plan. <br />Cotter has agreed that it needs to treat all water that reports to Sump No. 1 and <br />to file a permit amendment application by August 1. Cotter, however, does not agree <br />that reinitiating mine dewatering should be a corrective action. The Division requests <br />the Mined Land Reclamation Board ("Board") to require Cotter to draw down the