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HomeMy WebLinkAbout81-135 041-080-027�, • NORTH CONTINENT LAND & TIlVIBER, INC February 5, 2008 VIA COURIER: BUTTE COUNTY Tim Snellings FEB 0 5 . Director of Development Services ` Z000 Planning Department Dr,BVBLOYPo EN't County. of Butte syrtv10Es 7 County Center Drive Oroville, CA 959.65 Re: Order of Butte County Department of Public Works Reclamation and Department of Development Services, dated February 4, 2008; Mining and Reclamation Permit No: 81=135; Butte County Assessor's Parcel Nos. 041-080=027 & 41=U8- .21 (the "New Era Mine'1 Dear Mr. Snellings:. We are in .receipt of the Order of Butte County Department of Public Works ("DPW") r and Department of'Development Services ("DDS"),' executed by you, Tim Snellings, Director, y �• Department of Development. Services, and Mike Crump, Director, Public Works Department, and issued t6.1Vlr. Ron Logan and Messrs. Lee Ogle and Frank Noland of North Continent Land & Timber on February 4, 2008 (the "Order"). in addition, we are in receipt of.the letter sent by Mr. Chris Thomas, Associate. Planner, Department of Development Services, to Messrs. Ronald R. Logan,.. F.L_ Ogle, and James F. Noland and Mrs. Betty J. Logan on February 5, 2008 concerning the Order (the "Letter"). We understand that the issuance of the Order was the official action of each of DPW and DDS, pending the outcome of the hearing referenced in the:Order.or any subsequent retraction_or amendment of:the Order. 'As you are aware, the Order was .provided to us at an ia=person meeting with you and Messrs. Pete Calarco,, Chris Thomas, and Charles. Thistlewaite. At that meeting, we were provided an opportunity to read the Order in full, and thereafter, we asked each of you. repeatedly whether the Order was the official and final decision of DPW and DDS. You stated that -it was. It is apparent to us on its face that the Order is. not consistent with the terms of Cleanup and Abatement Order No. R5-2007-073.1 issued by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region, on December 17, 2007 (the "Abatement Order'l, and no carve out for compliance with the Abatement Order was provided in the Order. We perceive this issue to be one of the reasons that the Letter was issued. In light of the foregoing and the following, we hereby notify you that we do not accept the Letter as a modification of or supplement to the Order. The Letter was issued by a person 4950 Cohasset Road - Suite 10 - Chico, California - 95973 324 •Letter to Tim Snellings February S, 2008. Page 2 other than the persons who issued the Order, and, Mr. Chris Thomas does not, to .our knowledge, represent PWD, one of the parties that issued the Order and a party with which we have never dealt.. In addition, our prior dealings with DDS, :particularly Mr. Chris Thomas, provide us with no basis upon which to believe that the Order has been so modified. To illustrate our concerns, we note that on one prior occasion we were in, by Mr. Chris Thomas to produce" certain documents, which were subsequently asserted by consultants to DDS, Pacific Municipal Consultants, to have evidenced the commission of- fraud. This allegation was made by Mr. Ignacio Gonzalez of Pacific -Municipal Consultants in the presence of W. Chris Thomas, who volunteered .no -response.. Only after we questioned Mr. Chris Thomas at that time did- he admit to.. W. Ignacio Gonzalez and other parties_ then present that such documentation was created at the request of DDS and not fraudulent. Candidly, we do not trust a -letter modification . to an, official order of 'a government agency that has been made by a person other than the most senior person of such agency, the person or persons who executed such order, or legal counsel to such agency. Therefore; we do not understand how the Letter could be binding upon the Order. At the risk of understating . the ' obvious, 'the Order. is unreasonable, :rife .with . factual inaccuracies, and fails to draw many: appropriate and necessary conclusions. Moreover, the ~• Order is completely at odds with the course of action that DDS previousl.Indicated to us -was being considered. espectfully: submitted, James F. Noland Floyd L. gle Cc'.Ronald R. Logan Betty J. Logan Mike Crump, Director, Public Works Department Phil Woodward, Senior Engineering'Geologist, California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region Douglas W. Craig, Assistant Director, Office of Mine Reclamation, California Department of Conservation 325 . • • R ATTACHMENT C t f a • •