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Elk Creek Mine (C-1981-022) MT- 7 <br />On 20 March 2008 OMLLC submitted an application for Permit Renewal No. 5 (RN -05). The application <br />was found complete on 24 March 2008, and a decision to approve the renewal was proposed on 10 February <br />2009. A new permit was issued on 28 May 2009, with the permit term running from 11 October 2008 until <br />11 October 2013. <br />Permit Revision No. 6 (PR -06) was submitted to the Division on 28 July 2011, with the purpose of <br />expanding the permit area by 2,247.43 acres to 15,676.51 acres, and to incorporate Federal Coal Lease <br />Modification COC -61357 Tract 5 into the permit. The revision was found complete on 8 August 2011. The <br />decision to approve the revision was proposed on 21 June 2012, and the revision was issued on 20 <br />September 2012. <br />Permit Revision No. 7 (PR -07) was submitted to the Division on 29 May 2012, with the purpose of <br />incorporating the Elk Creek East Federal Coal Lease COC -70615 into the permit. The revision was found <br />complete on 6 June 2012. The decision to approve PR -07 was proposed on 4 October 2012, and the revision <br />was issued on 26 November 2012. <br />On 18 March 2013 OMLLC submitted an application for Permit Renewal No. 6 (RN -06). The application <br />was found complete on 27 March 2013, and a decision to approve the renewal was proposed on 11 April <br />2013. A new permit was issued on 16 December 2013, with the permit term running from 11 October 2013 <br />until 11 October 2018. <br />Description of the Environment <br />The surface permitted area consists of 15,676.51 acres: 10,125.51 acres are federally owned (USFS and <br />BLM) and 5,551 acres are privately -owned lands. The coal reserve owners include Oxbow Mining, <br />LLC, other private entities and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. <br />Surface facilities are located in the Elk Creek, Bear Creek, Hubbard Creek, and Sanborn Creek drainages <br />on the north side of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Mining areas include workings under the <br />Hubbard Creek, Elk Creek, Bear Creek and Coal Gulch drainages. Workings in the Sanborn Creek East <br />Tract have undermined A, B, C and Hoopla Gulches, Bardine Canyon, Hawk's Nest Creek and an <br />unnamed tributary of Thompson Creek. Hubbard Creek is a perennial tributary of the North Fork and <br />provides both domestic and agricultural supplies of water. Bear Creek, Elk Creek and Sanborn Creek <br />are intermittent streams. Coal Gulch, the unnamed drainage, A, B and C Gulches, Hawk's Nest Creek, <br />Hoopla Gulch, Bardine Canyon and Thompson Creek are all ephemeral drainages that flow to the North <br />Fork. <br />The North Fork River Basin contains a developed water supply providing agricultural water to the fruit <br />growing region of the North Fork Valley. The North Fork River enters the main stem of the Gunnison <br />River approximately 25 miles southwest of the Elk Creek Mine. The drainage basin of the North Fork <br />is mountainous, bounded to the east by the Raggeds and Huntsman Ridge, to the South by the West Elk <br />Mountains, and to the North by Grand Mesa. Elevations in the basin range from 13,058 feet atop Mt. <br />Owen in the Ruby Range, to 5,100 feet at the confluence of the North Fork of the Gunnison and Gunnison <br />Rivers. The town of Somerset, Colorado, immediately adjacent to the Elk Creek Mine, is at an elevation <br />of 6,045 feet. <br />Page 5 of 14 <br />