Response No.                                      Response

         of several heavy metals. The predicted amount of annual heavy metal
deposition from
         tailings dust is substantially less than the amount which naturally
occurs from all sources in
         the area.

         No toxic wastes would be moved by construction vehicles.

   526   There are no impacts predicted for water wells around Ground Hemlock
Lake because the
         groundwater drawdown would not extend to the area. As indicated
on DEIS Fig. 1-19,
         Ground Hemlock Lake lies within zones 2 and 3, in which there would
be representative
         water wells sampled for baseline quality.

   527   Compliance boundaries are lines drawn around the MWDF, landfill,
mine, reclaim ponds,
         and mine/mill surface facilities. Groundwater quality at the compliance
boundaries must
         meet the established groundwater quality standards. Between each
facility listed above
         and the compliance boundary, groundwater monitoring would be conducted
to detect any
         changes in groundwater quality. If groundwater changes would occur,
and it would appear
         that standards could be violated at a compliance boundary, then
intervention would be
         required to correct the problem. The measures available for intervention
have been
         established in the contingency plans for such occurrences.

         During operations and following closure and reclamation of the MWDF,
some seepage from
         the MWDF into the groundwater would occur. Groundwater levels are
predicted to return
         nearly to pre-mining conditions within several years. Over the long-term
(hundred to
         thousands of years), contaminants (chiefly sulfate) are predicted
to disperse away from the
         MWDF and beyond the compliance boundary. Most computer modeling
simulations indicate
         the concentration of sulfate and other contaminants would be below
standards, which are
         established to protect public health, safety, and welfare. Refer
to response #173.

   528  In accordance with the statutes and codes, the plan of operation
would be prepared by
         Exxon and submitted to DNR for approval following the master hearing.
Development of
         the plan of operation must take into consideration the specific
conditions related to the
         feasibility report approval issued subsequent to the master hearing.
The plan of operation
         must be approved by DNR before Exxon could begin construction.

   529   The groundwater drawdown is predicted to extend eastward nearly
to Hemlock Creek (DEIS
         Fig. 3-3), about 0.5 mile west of Ground Hemlock Lake. Therefore,
no significant impacts
         would occur to the lake, and no mitigation planning is required.
Also see the responses to
         comments 536, 539 and 540.

   530   The FEIS contains an expanded discussion of impacts to tourism.
No significant impacts to
         the tourist industry are expected to occur if the project were implemented.



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