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AN,COLORADO <br />Division of Reclamation, <br />Mining and Safety <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Louis Head <br />New Elk Coat Company, LLC <br />12250 Hwy 12 <br />Weston, CO 81019 <br />December 9, 2014 <br />Re: New Elk Mine (Permit No. C- 1981 -012) <br />Technical Revision No. 68, (TR -68) <br />Third Adequacy Review <br />Dear Mr. Head, <br />The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (the Division) has completed the <br />review of materials submitted by New Elk Coal Company (NECC) and Gorham Energy <br />Consultants (GEC) in response to the second adequacy review letter of July 22, 2014. <br />A single substantive technical issue remains to be resolved: <br />Rule 2.05.4 - Reclamation Plan — Permit Area <br />14. <br />C. Permanent impoundments <br />DRMS, Nov 27, 2013: Changes have been made in the proposed text of this section <br />to make ponds 4 & 8 permanent impoundments. The Division does not dismiss these <br />ideas out of hand, but does not feel that the information submitted is sufficient to <br />support such a change. In addition to the comments about pond 4 made above (131), <br />it is worth making two points at this stage, in case NECC wishes to pursue the idea <br />further: firstly, landowner approval must be granted formally, on a signed letter <br />which may be added to the permit as an exhibit; secondly, the proposed permanent <br />impoundments must be permitted by the Division of Water Resources before they <br />can be approved by the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety. <br />NECC /GEC, Mar 21, 2014: We fully understand that the CPW will need to request in <br />writing that the ponds remain, since they are the landowner of pond 4. Also, we do not <br />believe that approval of the Division of Water Resources is a requirement at the time of <br />permanent impoundment approval by the Division. Please provide current examples <br />where the Division has enforced such a policy. Applications for livestock water tanks <br />will be filed with the DWR prior to final bond release. Both of these impoundments <br />treat runofffrom areas dominated by coal mine refuse. Permanent retention of these <br />ponds is desirable for many reasons, long term water treatment being one in addition <br />to the obvious benefits to wildlife. <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215, Denver, CO 80203 P 303.866.3567 F 303.832.8106 http: / /mining.state.co.us <br />John W. Hickenlooper, Governor Mike King, Executive Director Virginia Brannon, Director *-la7s i <br />