2021-09-02_REVISION - C1981012 (2)

Home Browse Search

[C-21 I HISTORY COLORADO Daniel Cunningham Environmental Protection Specialist Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 Denver, CO 80203 RE: New Elk Mine (Permit No. C-1981-012) Permit Revision Application No. 5 (PR-5), Permit Revision 5 (HC# 71066) Dear Mr. Cunningham, Thank you for your correspondence dated and received by our office on July 7, 2021 requesting review of the above referenced undertaking under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and its implementing regulations 36 CFR Part 800. In accordance with the 1991 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between our agencies, because the technical revision may incorporate additional lands into the permit area or might otherwise alter previously approved permit conditions or mitigation measures, concurrence between our agencies is required due to the potential for impacts to cultural and/or historic resources. The provided documentation notes that the permit revision would result in the expansion of the New Elk Mine's permit boundary by 2,856 acres for the purposes of expanding subsurface mining operations. This has the potential to affect cultural resources through development of infrastructure, temporary use areas, and reclamation activities as well as through reasonably foreseeable effects such as subsidence and ground vibrations. In order to complete our review, we request additional information on the proposed development of the area for mining, temporary use areas (i.e. access roads and staging areas), and potential extent of effects posed by subsidence and ground vibrations. Please provide additional descriptions, maps, designs, and images as necessary to provide us an understanding of the proposed undertaking and the area of potential effects (APE). An initial review of our records shows that cultural resource specialists have inventoried a dearth of the expanded permit boundary location and that at least one previously recorded historic property (5LA.5925) sits in the APE. A review of previous studies in the region and acrial images shows the potential for previously unidentified cultural remains in the proposed expansion area including archaeological remains. Further, an initial review of historic topographic maps show that the APE may contain previously unidentified historic structures including structures associated with the town of Vigil. Expansion of mining in this area has the potential to affect these types of cultural resources. Due to the dearth of previous inventory and the potential for previously unidentified cultural resources in the project location, it is our recommendation that a cultural resource inventory be completed by a cultural resource specialist who meets the Secretary of the Interior's Standards prior to construction activities to determine the presence of cultural resources in the APE and to assess the eligibility of any resources for the NRHP. The cultural resource specialist should also evaluate the undertaking's potential effects to historic properties. This level of effort is recommended in accordance with 36 CFR 800.4(b)(1). A list of qualified contractors that may provide the above services is available on our website: hops://www.histoiycolorado.org/sites/de fault/files/media/document/2021/1502%202.25.21.docx.pd£ Upon completion of the appropriate identification efforts, our office should be provided with the results of the cultural resource inventory for review of professional adequacy and compliance with regulations, as well as to evaluate the appropriateness of the recommended effect finding.