2018-07-09_PERMIT FILE - C1981019 (4)

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INTRODUCTION Operations at Colowyo began in 1976 with the construction of the necessary support facilities such as the haul and access road and the office," shop, and maintenance facilities. Topsoil and overburden removal began shortly thereafter with coal production of 294,504 tons in 1977. Coal production increased to 1,105,576 tons in 1978. The yearly coal production records for Colowyo are shown on Table 2.05-3, Historical Coal Shipped (Sold) and Anticipated Annual Shipped (Sold). The mine area is served by a 22 -mile railroad spur which was constructed from near Craig, Colorado in 1978-1979, at Colowyo's expense, for the specific purpose of servicing the mine. The Union Pacific Railroad is the rail carrier for Colowyo Coal. Colowyo Coal production is shipped by rail from the crushing and loadout facility known as the Gossard Loadout. The Gossard Loadout crushes coal in a secondary crusher to customer specifications and then loads coal into rail cars of a "unit -train." About four miles from the Gossard Loadout, mine -run coal is crushed to 8 inch minus at the primary crusher adjacent to the pit. This coal is then trucked approximately 4 miles to the Gossard Loadout where it is put through a secondary crusher and loaded into rail cars. The crushed coal, after sampling for quality, is conveyed to a 100,000 -ton stockpile over the railroad tracks. The 100 -ton rail cars are flood loaded as they pass beneath the stockpile. Unit -train loading enables the customers of Colowyo to obtain lower freight rates than would be possible with individual train movements. Because the Colowyo mine is an existing operation, additional environmental impacts from mining will be minimal. Support facilities, such as office buildings, railroads, tipples, etc., are already in place and will continue to be utilized as the additional reserves are mined. The area which will be disturbed will be reclaimed to beneficial uses similar to adjacent areas. Description of Organization of Permit Application Colowyo has carefully chosen the format for this application. The application is arranged for easy reference to specific sections of the Colorado regulations. Where applicable, cross-references have been furnished to avoid redundancy and to facilitate the review. Supplemental information, not included in the typed text of the application, is set forth as Figures, Tables, Maps or Exhibits. A comprehensive listing of all figures, tables, maps and exhibits directly follows the Table of Contents to this application. Since the submittal of the original permit application in 1981 and subsequent approval and issuance of the permit on November 4, 1982, numerous minor revisions, technical revisions, and permit revisoins have been made to the permit during the past permit terms. All of these revisions have been incorporated throughout this permit document. Introduction 2 Date Revised: 4/7/17 Revision No: RN -07