2018-09-04_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1980007

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28 The West Elk Mine portals are located at an approximate elevation of 6,450 feet. Run-of-mine coal is transported from the production panels to the various surface facilities by a system of belt conveyors. A conveyor carries coal from inside the mine portal to the stacking tubes. From the stacking tubes, an underground conveyor reclaim system transports the coal to the two crushers. A conveyor then moves the coal from the crushers to the two storage silos. A stacktube located to the east of the silos provides additional storage for product coal. A loadout conveyor carries coal from the storage silos to the over-the-track loadout. A portion of this conveyor is completely enclosed where it crosses the North Fork of the Gunnison River and Highway 133. Coal is shipped from the West Elk Mine mainly by rail, although some coal is either trucked from the mine or is transferred to various handling or stockpile facilities on the mine site. Coal mine waste at the mine is generated during underground construction activities and mining. Other sources of coal mine waste are contaminated coal spillage, material cleaned out of sediment ponds, and soils contaminated with non-hazardous materials. These other sources of waste comprise only a small portion of the coal mine waste produced at the mine. Coal mine waste is currently being processed in a plant that MCC constructed on the Lower Refuse Pile (LRP). The processing plant and an adjacent coal stockpile and laboratory were approved in TR- 118. The refuse generated by the processing plant was initially disposed of in a permanent coal mine waste pile called the Refuse Pile Expansion area (RPE). This is a 20 acre site to the east of the LRP, and is east of Sylvester Gulch. The level area on top of the RPE is used as an equipment lay down area and the slopes have been topsoiled and seeded. As the RPE neared its design capacity, a new refuse pile, the Refuse Pile Expansion East (RPEE) was approved for construction with TR-120 (and re-designed with TR-127 and TR-133), in the drainage immediately east of the RPE. Material is transported to and from the RPEE by haul truck. An Upper Refuse Disposal Area has also been approved for construction, but has not been built. Although MCC has verbally indicated this pile will not be needed, Stipulation #7 requires MCC to complete a geotechnical investigation prior to constructing the pile. Surface runoff from the disturbed area is treated by six ponds (MB-3, MB-4, MB-5E, NSSA, RPE pond, and SG-1) and a number of small area exemptions (SAEs), two additional ponds (FW-1 and FW-2) are used for water storage. Surface water and sediment control structures are shown on the Map 54 series of the PAP, and designs are given in Exhibits 66 and 70. MB-3 is a small lower pond which treats drainage from the silo storage area. MB-4 serves the train loadout area. MB-5E is a large 2-celled pond which can accept mine water and treated discharge from the wastewater treatment plant, and provide some storage, as well as treat stormwater runoff. The NSSA pond treats runoff from the North Soil Storage Area. RPE pond is a 2-celled pond that treats runoff from the RPE and RPEE. SG-1 is located within Sylvester Gulch to treat runoff from the disturbed area associated with ventilation shafts. Topsoil and subsoil storage areas are located around the disturbed areas and are shown on the Map 53 series of the PAP. The main topsoil stockpile is to the south of the run-of-mine coal stack pad, and will be used during reclamation to cover the majority of the disturbance to a depth of 12 to 18 inches. Other significant topsoil and subsoil piles are located north of Highway 133 in the North Soil Storage Area (NSSA), south of the potable water tank, south of the Materials Storage Bench (MSB), adjacent to the Sylvester Gulch haul road, and adjacent to the RPEE haul road.