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ROY COOPER
Governor ? i' - r
ELIZABETH S.BISER
Secretary
Q AM VIOL
DOUGLAS R.ANSEL NORTH CAROLINA
Interim Director Environmental Quality
February 23, 2022
Certified Mail
Return Receipt Requested
7008 1300 0000 1127 1364
Vincenzo Labarbera
Primo Holdings,LLC
3214 Summerfield Dr.
Monroe,NC 28110
RE: Butler Mine
Pender County
Cape Fear River Basin
Dear Mr. Labarbera:
We have reviewed the application your company submitted for the referenced mine site. In order for this office to
complete its review of the referenced project in accordance with N.C.G.S. §74-50 and§74-51 of the Mining Act of
1971,please provide the additional or revised information in accordance with the following comments:
1. N.C.G.S. §74-49 defines "affected land" as the surface are of land that is mined, the surface area of
land associated with a mining activity so that soil is exposed to accelerated erosion,the surface area of
land on which overburden and waste is deposited, and the surface area of land used for processing or
treatment plant, stockpiles, nonpublic roads, and settling ponds. Please clearly indicate and label on
the mine map that the haul road to the nearest public road is included in the Mine permit boundary.
2. Please provide a color copy of the complete wetlands delineation from Davey Resource Group dated
August 29,2022.
3. The Future Pit expansion appears to occur in wetlands. Please provide proof of 401/404 permits or
provide correspondence from Division of Water Resources (DWR) and US Army Corp of Engineers
(USAGE) that these permits are not required. If the intent is not to mine this area until future permits
are secured, you must remove this area from the mine map and affected area tables. Proposed future
expansion after appropriate permitting will need to be handled through a mine permit modification.
4. Please clarify your statement in the O&M plan on sheet C 17,where you state existing mining footprint
has been mined since 2014. This is an application for a new permit,where not mining has occurred in
the past. Aerial Imagery from September 2021 show the site was undisturbed. Statements about past
mining activities not having an impact on wetlands are not accurate, since no mining has occurred.
5. Please clarify if Pit Sump#1 or#2,referenced in the O&M plan, are the same as Sediment Basin#1 &
#2. If these are different Erosion and Sediment Control(E&SC)measures,please clearly identify and
label on the mine map Pit Sump#1 and#1
D E Q North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Energy,Mineral and Land Resources
512 North Salisbury Street 1 1612 Mail Service Center I Raleigh,North Carolina 27699-1612
NORhI CAROLINA -
oaaa�emaienmronmenmiuuality /`� 919.707.9200

Certified Mail
Mr. Labarbera
Page 2
6. Please clarify your responses in the application to your proposed dewatering plan. Your response to
questions C.1,C.3.C, state there will be no dewatering. Your responses to questions C.3.13,C.3.C,and
C.3.1)state there will be dewatering.
7. Please clarify your responses in your NOI for your NPDES permit with regard to dewatering. Question
24 states there will be no dewatering. Question 25 states there will be no dewatering within 400' of
wetlands. Question 32 states no dewatering.
8. Please clarify your response in your NOI for your NPDES permit with regard to wastewater. Question
33,states there will be no washing of materials. Question 34 states there will be no discharge of process
wastewater. Your responses to C.3.A and C.3.13 of the mine permit application state there will be
washing and discharging of process water.
Please note, this office may request additional information, not included in this letter, as the mining application
review progresses. Be advised that our review cannot be completed until all of the items listed above have been
fully addressed.
In order to complete the processing of your application,please forward two(2)copies of the requested information
to my attention at the following address:
Division of Energy,Mineral and Land Resources
Department of Environmental Quality
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh,NC 27699-1612
If hand delivering or delivering by shipping company(e.g.,FedEx,UPS),please deliver to our physical address:
Division of Energy, Mineral,and Land Resources
Department of Environmental Quality
512 N. Salisbury Street, 5th Floor
Raleigh,NC 27604
As required by 15A NCAC 5B.0113,you are hereby advised that you have 180 days from the date of your receipt
of this letter to submit all of the requested information. If you are unable to meet this deadline and wish to request
additional time,you must submit information,in writing,to the Director clearly indicating why the deadline cannot
be met and request that an extension of time be granted. If an extension of time is not granted, a decision will be
made to grant or deny the mining permit based upon the information currently in the Department's files at the end
of the 180-day period.
Though the preceding statement cites the maximum time limit for your response,we encourage you to provide the
additional information requested by this letter as soon as possible. Your prompt response will help us to complete
processing your application sooner.
Please contact me at(919) 707-9220 if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Adam Parr,PE
Assistant State Mining Engineer
cc: Mr. Dan Sams,PE