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stability analysis demonstrating that the two fills in Elk Creek will be stable. For final <br />reclamation of the Elk Creek Mine facilities, the two nine -foot culverts will be removed and the <br />Elk Creek channel will be reconstructed in compliance with Rule 4.05.4. <br />These activities proposed in TR -32 required specific authorization by the Division in accordance <br />with Rule 4.05.4(4), Stream Channel Diversions (Relocation of Streams) and Stream Channel <br />Reconstruction, and Rule 4.05.18, Stream Buffer Zones. Therefore, the Division made the <br />finding that the original stream channel will be reconstructed at the completion of mining, the <br />water quantity and quality from the stream section within 100 feet of the surface coal mining <br />operations will not be adversely affected during and after mining, and that appropriate riparian <br />vegetation will be reestablished. <br />Permit Revision 5 required a mine plan approval from the US Office of Surface Mining and <br />Reclamation, to cover activities in the Elk Creek tract which was received on May 13, 2003. <br />This Elk Creek operation ramps down from the floor of the Elk Creek Canyon into the D -seam. <br />Development mining had already been approved at the time of the permit revision; longwall <br />mining into the Elk Creek tract was approved by the revision and by the federal mine plan <br />approval. <br />Mining ceased in the Sanborn Creek Mine in the spring of 2003. Oxbow Mining LLC began <br />immediately to reclaim the Sanborn Creek facilities. The conveyer was dismantled and removed <br />in the summer of 2003, the portals were sealed and regraded, and the Sanborn Creek fan shaft <br />was backfilled. <br />In January 2013, the Elk Creek Mine was evacuated due to the detection of gasses which <br />indicated a heating activity behind the longwall operation. Inert gasses were injected into the <br />mine workings behind temporary mine seals to extinguish the heating event. During this time, <br />all mine dewater pumps were shut down for safety reasons. Water continued to accumulate in <br />the workings until it reached a level that prevented proper ventilation and longwall recovery <br />efforts. Two mine dewater wells were approved in MR -104 and MR -105 to pump out the mine <br />workings. Shortly after the mine was re- entered in August 2013, mine gas monitoring indicated <br />that the heating event was not extinguished and had re- ignited. The mine was then re- sealed and <br />the longwall miner was abandoned in panel 18. <br />As the mine has been in operation since 1902, much of the disturbed area associated with the <br />mine was affected prior to the effective date of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act <br />of 1977 and the Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act. Baseline environmental <br />factors were not measured and no topsoil was salvaged prior to previous disturbance. <br />Disturbances which have been conducted since the effective date of the Act have been permitted <br />and conducted in compliance with the Act and Regulations. These activities include the <br />Hubbard Creek Ventilation Fan No. 2 facility, the methane degas wells, the Sanborn Creek Tract, <br />the Elk Creek Facilities, the West Valley and II West Coal Refuse Facilities, and the new Bear <br />Creek Fansite Facility. All other areas of disturbance at the mine occurred prior to the effective <br />date of the Act. <br />All surfaces will be returned to the approximate original contour (AOC) with two exceptions. <br />The original Bear Creek and Hubbard Creek ventilation facilities will be backfilled only to the <br />11 <br />