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\f0\fs20 \cf0 Troy Mine forecasting troubles for Rock Creek\

There has been a second tunnel colapse at the Troy mine, this has serious repercussions for Rock Creek. The Forest Service has stated in the EIS that the Troy mine will be used as a model for potential impacts that might occur at Rock Creek. Somehow I do not find it very reassuring what with Troy having had two cave-ins in less than a year, and those are just the incidents that have reached the media. Revet claims that the volume of overburden will prevent the subsidence scenario at Rock Creek. The amount of overburden at Rock Creek is non-specific and can be modified by the ongoing mine operation. The EPA suggested that a 1000-foot overburden be a permanent requirement. This request was denied by the USFS, leaving open the option for Revett to mine these areas closer to the surface in the future. The volume of buffer will have minimal if any effect if the rock between the lakes and the mine workings is fractured, the lakes at risk will drain.\

One of the permitting agencies needs to recognize the risks to the surface at Rock Creek. The Troy mine has already proven that the surface can be negatively impacted by activity underground. If what happened at Troy occurred to the Cabinets it would be a crime. The time is past for those who have permitted Rock Creek to deny personal responsibility for the consequences. For Revet to publicly state that the subsidence is unrelated to mining activity is ludicrous and insulting. The USFS needs to distance themselves from the propaganda of Revet and recognize that the decisions they make now will forever be imprinted on the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness. It is not to late, the lakes are intact, and all is as it should be. We cannot allow greed to prevail.\

JIM COSTELLO\

Trout Creek}