Laserfiche WebLink
Surety Release No. 7 (SL-07)was received on April 1, 2021. BRL applied for a Phase III <br /> release of 10.72 acres associated with the Run of Mine Area(ROM area), including the pond (the <br /> pond was also Phase II released). The request was adjusted to 10.38 acres to leave a small road <br /> in the permit, because a revision is needed to change the post-mining land use of this road. SL- <br /> 07 was approved on June 15, 2021. SL-07 reduced the reclamation liability for the Bowie No. 1 <br /> Mine by $50,653.84. <br /> Surety Release No. 8 (SL-08)was received on May 24, 2022. BRL applied for a Phase III <br /> release of a portion of the West Mine. The area was adjusted because of the presence of yellow <br /> star thistle, and the final area released was 12.31 acres. SL-08 was approved on November 23, <br /> 2022. SL-08 reduced the reclamation liability for the Bowie No. 1 Mine by $60,430.00. <br /> Brief Permitting History <br /> The Bowie No. 1 Mine was an underground mine which began operating in 1975 and was <br /> permitted under the permanent state regulatory program in 1981. The mine was originally called <br /> the Orchard Valley Mine and the original permittee of the 1981 permit was Colorado <br /> Westmoreland, Inc. (CWI). The permit has been transferred twice; first to Cyprus Orchard Valley <br /> Coal Corporation and then to BRL. <br /> The original 1981 permit has been renewed seven times prior to this permit renewal application. <br /> Three permit revisions and two technical revisions expanded the original permit area of 2,283.5 <br /> acres to 8,859.9 acres. Permit Revision No. 4 reduced the permit area to its current 5,431 acres. <br /> Eight bond release applications have been submitted for the Bowie No. 1 Mine. The first, SL-01, <br /> was a Phase I bond release request for the West Mine area that was subsequently withdrawn by <br /> the operator. SL-02, approved in 2004, granted Phase I bond release on the West Mine area. SL- <br /> 03, approved in 2008, granted Phase I bond release on the Unit Train Loadout. SL-04 approved <br /> in 2013, was a Phase I bond release request for 40.15 acres at the East Mine. The acreage was <br /> increased to 70 acres at the East mine for backfilling and grading the East Mine. SL-05 was <br /> approved in 2016. The bond release was for 1.0 acres of Phase I at the West Mine and a total of <br /> 23.3 acres of Phase II, 10.2 acres at the ROM Area and 13.1 acres at the West Mine. SL-06 was <br /> approved in February of 2018. SL-06 approved the release of 2.31 acres for Phase I associated <br /> with five ponds at the East Mine and the one pond at the ROM Area. SL-06 also released 58.84 <br /> acres for Phase II at the East Mine. As discussed above, SL-07 for the ROM was approved in June <br /> of 2021, and SL-08 for the West Mine was approved in November of 2022. <br /> Description of the Environment <br /> The Bowie No. 1 Mine is situated in the northeastern portion of Delta County, Colorado, and is <br /> located approximately four miles north of Paonia, Colorado, along Stevens Gulch Road. The <br /> western extremities of the Bowie No. 1 Mine permit area are bounded closely by the East and West <br /> Roatcap Creek drainage divide, and the northern boundary is located near the Morrell Cow Camp <br /> area. The coal loadout facilities are located approximately one mile northeast of Paonia along <br /> 4 <br />