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Page 5 of 73 <br /> The site adjoins the former Fruita Refinery to the east. To the south, there are former <br /> evaporation ponds and undeveloped areas. There are private residential and rural agricultural <br /> lands to the west and northwest. A main railroad corridor and highway easement are located to <br /> the north, beyond which are agricultural lands. <br /> The site and adjacent lands were undeveloped or in agricultural use prior to the start of a refinery <br /> operation in 1957 by the American Gilsonite Company. The refinery originally processed <br /> gilsonite (i.e., bitumen: a naturally-occurring solid or semi-solid hydrocarbon) ore into liquid <br /> products and petroleum coke. Gilsonite was mined and transported via pipeline, in slurry form, <br /> about 72 miles from the Bonanza mining district to the refinery complex from 1957 to 1973. <br /> The refinery was later converted to process conventional crude oils into liquids and coke. Gary <br /> Energy Corporation (Gary)purchased the operation in December 1973 and produced gasoline <br /> and diesel fuel,jet fuel, naphtha, vacuum gas oil, heavy fuel oil, calcined petroleum coke and <br /> liquefied petroleum gas. Refinery operations continued through about 1993, with several <br /> owners/operators including Gary, Westinghouse Savannah River Co. and Landmark Petroleum. <br /> The land east of Reed Wash is currently unused and is a remnant of the former petroleum <br /> refinery operations. The portion of the site west of Reed Wash is undeveloped. There are <br /> wetland areas west of Reed Wash. Industrial operations formerly occurred in the eastern part of <br /> the site where several large impoundments that exist presently were utilized as evaporation <br /> ponds and landfarm areas for refinery-generated waters and waste materials. There are several <br /> landfill areas at the site where coke fines are buried, along with a 7-acre closed landfill which <br /> contains solidified acid-sludge material. <br /> The acid-sludge waste cell is a mounded and soil-capped square area, about 7 acres in size, near <br /> the site's northeast corner. The waste cell contains approximately 85,000 cubic yards of <br /> solidified acid sludge. This area is subject to the post-closure operation and maintenance <br /> requirements specified in Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's (CDPHE's) <br /> solid waste regulations, which primarily include erosion control of the landfill cap. <br /> The 39-acre landfarm area consists of former evaporation ponds. This area received Closure <br /> Certification from CDPHE on August 25, 2005 for residential/unrestricted use (Exhibit 15 of the <br /> Permit Application Package (PAP)). However, there are odor issues associated with this area <br /> and the surface soils appear to be sterile since they are completely devoid of vegetation. <br /> There are several areas in the northeast portion of the site where coke particulate-matter was <br /> disposed in a series of excavated and unlined trenches. The material apparently originated from <br /> baghouses connected to the former boiler exhaust stacks. In 1985, it was reported that at least <br /> 10,000 cubic yards of cokefines were landfilled. The landfill appears to have a cap of native <br /> soils. <br /> No coal is proposed to be mined within the permit area and the proposed permit area has not <br /> been previously mined. Coal loadout and reclamation operations are permitted to be conducted <br /> at the site. The areas disturbed by the loadout facilities will be returned to industrial and a <br /> combination of rangeland and fish and wildlife habitat land use. <br /> The Division has made a determination that there is no existence of alluvial valley floors (AVF) <br /> within the permit area based on the rules set forth in Rule 2.06.8(3)(c) and 2.07.6(2)(k). This <br /> determination is based on information provided by the applicant which demonstrates that a) there <br />