MINERS ALERT! DEQ comment conference, CHAT ROOM CONFERENCE MEETING |
MINERS ALERT! DEQ comment conference, CHAT ROOM CONFERENCE MEETING |
Feb 25 2005, 12:36 PM
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Master Mucker! Group: Admin Posts: 4,149 Joined: 7-October 03 From: Colorado Member No.: 3 |
All interested miners!
Concerning the Oregon DEQ permit proposal. I have been in touch with Mr. Cooper (professional planner/consultant) who has agreed to discuss his comments to the Oregon DEQ proposal with anyone who would be interested. This conference was scheduled for tonight at 7:30 pm by phone but has been rescheduled for Wednesday in the CP chat room. Date is Wednesday March 2, 2005 Time 7:00 pm PST Location: CP's Chat Just sign in with a name. (Free) Once you’re in the main chat room you will then see a button for additional rooms. The conference will be held in the “Conference Room”. Just click the room button and then double click the “Conference Room”. For those of you who are familiar with the CP chat, you can also move from one room to another through the control panel. (Third button from the right under the text-typing box) This will give everyone time to use this valuable information from this conference for his or her own comments. We can email copies of the transcript by request. Stop by ahead of time and get familiar with the controls for the room. Make yourself right at home. Everyone is welcome! Dan-CP This post has been edited by ColoradoProspector: Mar 1 2005, 09:48 AM -------------------- CP-Owner/Administrator
www.ColoradoProspector.com IF YOU USE IT, THE GROUND PRODUCED IT! MINERS MAKE "IT" HAPPEN!! |
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Feb 27 2005, 07:09 PM
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Master Mucker! Group: Admin Posts: 4,149 Joined: 7-October 03 From: Colorado Member No.: 3 |
Dan Cooper sent this to me today and asked that it be posted.
Names have been edited for their privacy. This will be the gist of Dan's comments which will be explained on Wednesday evening with more details. 402 is inapplicable....... Quoting Question sent to Dan Cooper. QUOTE Subject: NPDES permit vs State permit Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 09:11:04 -0800 Hi Dan; Yesterday I got a phone call from our State Representative. He had Holly XXXXXXXXXXXXXX of DEQ in the room with him on the speaker phone. We talked about the permit.... and have reached a point where DEQ wants to know if the miners will accept a NPDES permit or not. If "no", then DEQ will halt work on the proposed permit... and may or may not work on a State permit. This would leave us with no permit for this coming summer. If we are correct that we do not need a NPDES or any other CWA permit, then we should(?) be safe from 3rd party suits. If we are wrong, we run the risk of getting sued by greenies. If "yes", then DEq is now saying they could change the ammount on the fees (down to say $50/day for a permit violation, $500 for an intentional violation). They are talking about no turbidity restrictions on 4" dredge and smaller... and larger than 4" would be held to 1800 NTUs over a 30 day period figured at 10 NTUs 6 hrs. per day for 30 consecutiive days. My Representative wants me to contact him Monday afternoon with an answer concerning whether or not the miners will accept NPDES or not. I may have to go to Salem for a meeting with him and DEQ Tuesday depending on the answer. At this point, I need to know as clear as possible whether we legally need a NPDES or not. Any help you can give me in the next day or so would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Dan, Tom XXXXXXXXXXX Here is Dan's response until he can explain more at the meeting Wednesday. You will still have two days after the meeting to get your comments in. QUOTE After extensive research, I have found that you (Tom XXXXXXXXXXXX) are correct; ODEQ cannot prepare, acquire, or require, an NPDES Program Permit or NPDES Permit for suction (vacuum) dredging; not State and not Federal! The exemptions in the applicable statutes and the applicable regulations are clear; suction dredging is not administered under sec. 402 but, instead, exclusively under sec. 404 of the CWA, as amended. It will take a few days to write my findings up. Be patient; please! You may, however, submit this conclusion to ODEQ, at this time. The miners cannot accept an NPDES Program Permit because an NPDES Program Permit cannot be applied to suction dredging. Nor, would one (an NPDES Program Permit and regulations promulgated thereupon) be of any use to the ODEQ for they would be avoidable as a miner does not have a duty to comply pursuant to 40 CFR s 122.21(a). Even more profound, (because suction dredge operations are small businesses), the Draft ODEQ Regulations, as proposed by ODEQ, are avoidable because they are preclusive; (see 40 CFR part 21). Probably the greatest obstacle to the Draft ODEQ Regulations, as proposed by ODEQ, is the fact that they were driven (created and caused) by entities and individual officers who have clear conflicts of interests. (See 40 CFR s 233.4 and 40 CFR part 25) This is strictly forbidden. Dan Cooper CP -------------------- CP-Owner/Administrator
www.ColoradoProspector.com IF YOU USE IT, THE GROUND PRODUCED IT! MINERS MAKE "IT" HAPPEN!! |
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Mar 1 2005, 09:46 AM
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Master Mucker! Group: Admin Posts: 4,149 Joined: 7-October 03 From: Colorado Member No.: 3 |
I must correct myself here folks, sorry......
I refered to Dan incorrectly as a "legal consultant", Dan sent me clarification this morning. Sorry Dan for the mistaken title. QUOTE Since I am not an attorney this is an inappropriate title. I am a professional planner or a planning consultant. Please use these titles. I will also edit the previous posts to reflect this. Dan also informed me that the comments from EAJ, which he prepared will be posted today as well, so we will be able to review them ahead of time. Thank you to EAJ and Dan, we all appreciate your efforts. CP -------------------- CP-Owner/Administrator
www.ColoradoProspector.com IF YOU USE IT, THE GROUND PRODUCED IT! MINERS MAKE "IT" HAPPEN!! |
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Mar 1 2005, 04:51 PM
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Diggin' In! Group: Members Posts: 6 Joined: 1-March 05 Member No.: 235 |
I am Walt Eason President of Equal Access to Justice. Inc.
I am posting our comments. SEE ATTACHED
Attached File(s)
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Mar 1 2005, 06:51 PM
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russau Group: Members Posts: 2,841 Joined: 4-December 03 From: st.louis missouri Member No.: 43 |
wow walt great post! it sure made my comment look real insignificant! but im sure all letters and comments help! i need to improve on my writting skills!
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Mar 2 2005, 04:16 AM
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Shovel Buster! Group: Members Posts: 233 Joined: 18-January 04 From: Central Florida Member No.: 64 |
Walt, that is one hell of a letter and comment...Thanks.. I am humbled.
geno |
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Mar 2 2005, 02:29 PM
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Master Mucker! Group: Admin Posts: 7,186 Joined: 7-October 03 From: Colorado Member No.: 4 |
It has been decided that the main room in chat will be used as it will be easier for everyone to find.
Again here is the link to CP's Chat We hope to see you there. -------------------- Education is the key to the future,
and participation opens the door to opportunity. Discover your prospecting independence & success! ColoradoProspector.com Owner/Webmaster Core team member ♥ |
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Mar 2 2005, 08:09 PM
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Diggin' In! Group: Members Posts: 14 Joined: 6-February 05 Member No.: 220 |
After reviewing the posts here and the referenced material listed in the posts,
we of PNTH believe that Oregon DEQ must go by section 404 of the Clean Water Act to write a dredging permit. DEQ should also consult with the Corps Of Engineers to establish procedures for the State to issue said permits so that there is no duplication from more than one agency. DEQ and others violated our Constitutional Rights when they used section 402. DEQ must also comply with Oregon Administrative Procedures and Oregon Environmental Quality Law. |
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Mar 3 2005, 12:14 PM
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Master Mucker! Group: Admin Posts: 4,149 Joined: 7-October 03 From: Colorado Member No.: 3 |
Thank you everyone, we had a very successful meeting last night.
We covered many topics and everyone learned a little bit. We had 28 miners in the meeting at one point and there were several more who filed in and out as the three hour meeting progressed. This was an excellent power meeting.....If you couldn't make it but would like to have a copy of the transcripts.... email a request to meeting@coloradoprospector.com and we'll send out a copy for you. File is only 111 k for the entire meeting. Good read with lots of good comments in it. The meeting went so well that we will be holding more in the future..... :) Topics will be determined for each meeting which may be current issues or discussions on? The possibilities are endless....... :D Once again THANK YOU everyone! Those of you who missed it.......YOU WILL WANT TO START ATTENDING THESE! There was an awesome group of miners attending! :D Great job everyone! CP -------------------- CP-Owner/Administrator
www.ColoradoProspector.com IF YOU USE IT, THE GROUND PRODUCED IT! MINERS MAKE "IT" HAPPEN!! |
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Mar 5 2005, 07:31 AM
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russau Group: Members Posts: 2,841 Joined: 4-December 03 From: st.louis missouri Member No.: 43 |
after reading the transcripts of the conferance, im sorry i missed it! it was truely a good turnout and full of real good veiw points! i dont think i could of added anything to what was covered. i think these conferances are a good thing! the people with the answers got the info out!
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