2018-10-18_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981019

Home Browse Search

Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance October 2018 Partial Phase II and III Bond Release SL-14 Page 2 II. PROCEDURES AND SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW PROCESS Colowyo applied for a partial Phase II and III Bond Release for a total of 822.4 disturbed acres of Phase II and 222.6 acres of Phase III as shown on Map 1 and 2 of the SL-14 application as well as Figure 1 and Figure 2 of this document. This area is located in Moffat County, Colorado. The bond release areas are located in the Mine’s East and West Pit areas in portions of Township 3 North, Range 93 West (6th Principal Meridian), Sections 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 15, and 34. The permit area can be found on the USGS Quadrangle 7.5 Minute Series Maps of Axial and Nine Mile Gap. The permit area and surface ownership can be found on Map 1, and the coal ownership can be found on Map 2 of the Permit Application Package (PAP). Background The East Pit and West Pit mining sites lie just west of the northward flowing Goodspring (also referred to as Good Spring) Creek, which is paralleled by Colorado Highway 13. The area includes gently sloping uplands and valleys that cut into the upland surface. These valleys are generally narrow, v-shaped, and about 250 to 500 feet deep. Elevations range from approximately 7,650 feet in the upper portion of East Pit reclamation to 6,950 feet near East Taylor Pond. Mining operations began in 1976 with the East Pit, a multi-seam coal operation that continued to move in a southerly direction. Eight coal seams (Y, X, A, B, C, D, E, F) were mined from the East Pit, ranging in thickness from two to fifteen feet. The East Pit is nearly 6,000 feet from east to west (width), 1,000 feet in breadth (highwall to highwall), and 450 feet deep. Due to the number of coal seams, immense size of the pit, and manpower and equipment employed, pit progression was slow, with additional disturbances of approximately 40 to 50 acres per year. Extraction of coal from the East Pit was terminated in 2006. Currently the only ongoing operation in the East Pit is reclamation of the final cut, including backfilling and grading of the pit and highwall reduction. The West Pit is located to the west of the East Pit. The method of operation utilized in, and the coal seams extracted from, the West Pit were the same as those of the East Pit. The West Pit was roughly the same overall size as the East Pit. Mining in the West Pit advanced from the north to south, paralleling the movement of the adjacent East Pit. Mining operations in the West Pit were completed in 2015. Colowyo is continuing to perform reclamation activities in the East Pit and West Pit. Reclamation in the East Pit and West Pit is expected to conclude in 2029. Operations in the South Taylor Pit began after the approval of PR-02 in 2007. This pit is located north and west of the northward flowing Good Spring Creek and southwest of the West Pit. It lies partially in Rio Blanco County. In the South Taylor Pit, 17 seam and sub-seam complexes will be mined. The seams are the A, B, C, D, E, F and G seams and their seam complexes (for example, the G-Seam is separated into G7, G8 and G9 in the South Taylor Area). The South