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Public Notice
<br />Mountain Coal Company, LLC (MCC), 5174 Highway 133, Somerset, CO 81434,
<br />(970) 929-5015, has filed a request for partial, Phase I Bond Release of MCC's
<br />Mining and Reclamation Permit No. C-1980-007 with the Colorado Mined Land
<br />Reclamation Board (Board), under the provisions of the Colorado Surface Coal
<br />Mining Reclamation Act of 1979. The permit was originally issued by the Board in
<br />July 1981, and subsequently renewed in August 1986, January 1993 (effective
<br />August 1991), July 1996, July 2001, April 2007 (effective July 2006), and November
<br />2011 (effective July 2011.) MCC is currently undergoing a five-year permit renewal
<br />process that would extend the permit term to July 31, 2021. The West Elk Mine
<br />five-year permit area contains lands in Sections 9-11, 13-36, T13S, R90W, 6th PM;
<br />Sections 23-26, T13S, R91W, 6th PM; and Sections 1-5, 8-12,14-16, and 21-23, T14S,
<br />R90W, 6th PM in Delta and Gunnison Counties. The location of the lands can be
<br />found on the USGS 7.5 minute Somerset and Minnesota Pass Quadrangle
<br />Topographic Maps. The current permit area encompasses approximately 19,854.9
<br />acres.
<br />MCC is requesting Phase I Bond Release of approximately $364,058.00 (i.e. sixty
<br />percent (60%) of the performance bond posted) for exploratory drill holes,
<br />monitoring wells, and mine ventilation boreholes (MVBs) and associated pads and
<br />roads that have been reclaimed within the Dry Fork of the Minnesota Creek area.
<br />These sites are located on National Forest System lands within portions of Section
<br />33 of Township 13 South, Range 90 West and Section 2, 3, and 4 of Township 14
<br />South, Range 90 West.
<br />Reclamation of the various site locations and roads within MCC's permit area was
<br />completed in 2016 through 2018. Reclamation included proper plugging and
<br />abandonment of drill holes, monitoring wells and MVBs, as well as backfilling and
<br />regrading pad locations and access roads. The borehole sites and roads proposed
<br />for bond release have been revegetated and stabilized using various methods of
<br />seeding, fertilizing, and mulching.
<br />A copy of the Phase I Bond Release application is available for review at the
<br />Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (CDRMS),1313 Sherman
<br />Street, Room 215 Denver, CO 80203, phone (303) 866-3567, and the Gunnison
<br />County Planning Office, 221 N. Wisconsin, Suite D, Gunnison, CO 81230.
<br />Comments or objections concerning the application should be directed to the
<br />CDRMS at the above address within thirty (30) days of the last publication of this
<br />notice, or within thirty (30) days of the completed inspection, whichever is later.
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