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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 3 <br /> Summary <br /> <br /> <br />The Review Process <br /> <br />ERMR submitted an application for a permit revision on August 10, 2017. The application was <br />deemed complete on August 18, 2017. The applicant’s public notice was published in the San <br />Miguel Basin Forum for four consecutive weeks beginning on August 24, 2017. The comment <br />period ended on October 14, 2017. <br /> <br />ERMR is proposing to revise the postmining land use configuration, and to update the topsoil <br />handling plan, the revegetation plan and the irrigation designs on the Garvey & Company property. <br /> <br />The Division received one comment during the comment period. In a letter dated September 11, <br />2017, the Colorado Historical Society (CHS) made a finding of ‘no historic properties affected.’ <br /> <br />Description of the Environment <br /> <br />The New Horizon North (NHN) Mine permit area encompasses a total of 328.7 acres in western <br />Montrose County, three miles northwest of the town of Nucla. The NHN Mine facilities and <br />operations areas occupy one-half square mile of land that is bounded by Montrose County Z Road <br />on the North, AA Road on the South, 26.50 Road on the East and 26.00 Road on the West. <br /> <br />The NHN mining operations area is divided into three separate parcels, with three individual <br />landowners. The southern parcel, owned by Garvey, comprises 160 acres. The 80 acres north of <br />Garvey is owned by ERMR but is known as the Meehan property. The northernmost property, <br />also 80 acres, is owned by Glasier. The remaining 8.7 acres consist of the equipment corridor and <br />the light use road used to access Pond NH1-001. <br /> <br />Land Use – Section 2.04.3 <br /> <br />The Garvey property is dominated by grazingland-reclamation across its southern extent. This <br />area was mined and reclaimed to dryland pasture by Peabody/ERMR as the Nucla Mine, C-1981- <br />008. There are some minor inclusions of subirrigated land, where irrigation water has been <br />allowed to flow across the surface. The northeast corner was an area of grazingland–sagebrush. <br />The contour of this site lies above the elevation of the Second Park Lateral of the Colorado <br />Cooperative Company (CCC) Ditch, with the result that the area has never been irrigated. The <br />northwestern portion consisted largely of the intensively managed irrigated pasture land use, and <br />some irrigated pasture. <br /> <br />Soils - Section 2.04.9 <br /> <br />The applicant (then Western Fuels-Colorado) conducted a detailed baseline soil survey of the <br />entire NHN Mine permit area in 2008. For this effort, a total of 183 backhoe pits were dug, located <br />as shown on permit Maps 2.04.9-2 and -3. Of these, 118 pits were dug at locations undisturbed <br />by mining activities, while 65 were located within the area disturbed and reclaimed by Peabody.