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The Eagle Mine sites are located in an area, which has been historically mined by surface and underground <br />mining. The earliest records of mining indicate that underground mining began in this area in the late 1920's <br />and early 1930's, while surface strip mining began around 1975. The major mines which have operated in the <br />past are: 1) Wise Hill (1,2,3,4), Williams Fork Strip (1,2,3), and Trapper Strip. The Trapper Strip Mine <br />began operations in 1976 and has continued to date. <br />Underground mining began at the Eagle No. 5 Mine in 1972, under a subsidiary of the Zigler Coal Co. The <br />Cyprus Empire Corporation (CEC), a subsidiary of the Cyprus Coal Company, subsequently acquired the <br />mines from Zigler in 1982, and began operating under an approved Colorado Mine Land Reclamation Board <br />permit in August, 1983. In 1999, CEC was acquired by RAG EC. In April 2004, RAG EC was acquired by <br />Peabody Energy, with the mine owned by Peabody's subsidiary, BTU, and the mine name changing to BTU <br />Empire Corporation (BTU EC). In December 2009, the mine name was changed to William's Fork Mine <br />(WFM) <br />Hydrologic monitoring has been conducted at the mine site since 1980, primarily by CEC/RAG EC/BTU <br />EC/WFM personnel. A private company (Miller Water Monitoring Service) has also been contracted to <br />assist with some of the hydrologic monitoring over the last few years. Water quality samples are currently <br />analyzed by ACZ Laboratories, Inc., of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, an USEPA certified laboratory. <br />The Eagle No. 5 Mine, mining the "F" Coal Seam of the Cretaceous Age Williams Fork Formation, originally <br />utilized room - and - pillar mining methods until 1985, when economics dictated a change to the longwall <br />mining method. The aerial extent of the underground workings in the Eagle No. 5 Mine was approximately <br />2,040 acres in early 1990, when the No. 5 mine was sealed and mining moved to the Eagle No. 6 Mine. Full <br />production in the Eagle No. 6 Mine began in late 1990, with coal extraction from the underlying "E" Coal <br />Seam of the Williams Fork Formation. Coal mined at the No. 5 and No. 6 Mines was loaded on unit trains at <br />the mine facility area and hauled by rail to market. The 5A portals and a short section of the No. 5 Mine <br />mains were used for access to the Eagle No. 6 Mine. The aerial extent of the underground workings in the <br />Eagle No. 6 Mine (underlying portions of the No. 5 Mine) was approximately 640 acres at in late 1995, when <br />mining ceased. The mines were subsequently in temporary cessation, until Williams Fork re- activated water <br />monitoring during the second quarter of 2006, in anticipation of WFM considering options for future re- <br />activation of the mine site, and because a bond release application was also being contemplated for the Utah <br />Tract and Williams Fork Strip Pit portions of the mine property. Note that during 2013, no active mining <br />took place at either of the Eagle Mine sites, and total mined acreage has not changed. During the third <br />quarter of 2013, the mine reverted back to temporary cessation monitoring (discussed further below) <br />Page 2 <br />1: \Env \Empire\AHR\20 l 3 \Test \Empire20 13 AHR.doc <br />