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Division in accordance with Rule 4.05.4(4), Stream Channel Diversions (Relocation of Streams) <br /> and Stream Channel Reconstruction, and Rule 4.05.18, Stream Buffer Zones. Therefore, the <br /> Division made the finding that the original stream channel will be reconstructed at the <br /> completion of mining, the water quantity and quality from the stream section within 100 feet of <br /> the surface coal mining operations will not be adversely affected during and after mining, and <br /> that appropriate riparian vegetation will be reestablished. TR-32 was approved in July 2000. <br /> Permit Revision No. 5 (PR-5)required a mine plan approval from the US Office of Surface <br /> Mining and Reclamation (OSM), to cover activities in the Elk Creek tract which was received on <br /> May 13, 2003. This Elk Creek operation ramped down from the floor of the Elk Creek Canyon <br /> into the D-seam. Development mining had already been approved at the time of the PR-5; <br /> longwall mining into the Elk Creek tract was approved by the revision and by the federal mine <br /> plan approval. <br /> Mining ceased in the Sanborn Creek Mine in the spring of 2003. Oxbow Mining, Inc. began <br /> immediately to reclaim the Sanborn Creek facilities. The conveyer was dismantled and removed <br /> in the summer of 2003, the portals were sealed and regraded, and the Sanborn Creek fan shaft <br /> was backfilled. <br /> In January 2013, the Elk Creek Mine was evacuated due to the detection of gasses which <br /> indicated a heating activity behind the longwall operation. Inert gasses were injected into the <br /> mine workings behind temporary mine seals to extinguish the heating event. During this time, <br /> all mine dewater pumps were shut down for safety reasons. Water continued to accumulate in <br /> the workings until it reached a level that prevented proper ventilation and longwall recovery <br /> efforts. Two mine dewatering wells were approved with Minor Revision No.'s 104 and 105 <br /> (MR-104 and MR-105) to pump out the mine workings. Shortly after the mine was re-entered in <br /> August 2013, mine gas monitoring indicated that the heating event was not extinguished and had <br /> re-ignited. The mine was then re-sealed and the longwall mining equipment was abandoned in <br /> panel 18. <br /> In August 2015, OMLLC submitted Technical Revision No. 76 (TR-76)to revise the post- <br /> mining land use and post-mining topography at several locations within the mine's disturbed <br /> area. TR-76 allowed for development of the methane resource in the sealed mine workings, on <br /> privately owned land that had already been disturbed by mining activity. <br /> Work began in October 2015 to reclaim the mine. The portals and vent shafts were permanently <br /> sealed by the end of 2015, and major structure demolition and removal was completed by the end <br /> of 2016. <br /> Given that mining operations on the site have been ongoing since 1902, much of the disturbance <br /> associated with the mine was caused prior to the effective date of the Surface Mining Control <br /> and Reclamation Act of 1977 and the Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act. Baseline <br /> environmental factors were not measured and no topsoil was salvaged prior to the disturbance. <br /> Disturbances made following the effective date of the Act have been permitted and conducted in <br /> compliance with the Act and Regulations; (these include the Hubbard Creek Ventilation Fan No. <br /> 2 facility, the methane degas wells, the Sanborn Creek Tract,the Elk Creek facilities, the West <br /> 9 <br />