2024-03-12_REVISION - C1981022 (18)

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The Review Process Oxbow Mining, LLC (OMLLC) submitted an application for permit renewal 8 (RN-8), which was received by the Division on March 2, 2023. On March 3, 2023, the application was deemed Complete for the purposes of filing. The public notice announcing the completeness of the permit renewal application was published in the Delta County Independent for four consecutive weeks beginning March 15, 2023 and ending April 5, 2023. No comments were received by the Division concerning the renewal. The Applicant Violator System (AVS)was queried for any non-compliance issues relating to OMLLC. The AVS report generated on February 20, 2024, revealed no violations. Description of the Environment The surface permitted area consists of 15,676.51 acres: 10,125.51 acres are federally owned (USFS and BLM) and 5,551 acres are privately-owned lands. The coal reserve owners include OMLLC, other private entities, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management(BLM). Surface facilities are located in the Elk Creek, Bear Creek, Hubbard Creek and Sanborn Creek drainages on the north side of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Mining areas include workings that lie under the Hubbard Creek, Elk Creek, Bear Creek and Coal Gulch drainages. Workings in the Sanborn Creek East Tract have undermined A, B, C and Hoopla Gulches, Bardine Canyon, Hawk's Nest Creek and an unnamed tributary of Thompson Creek. Hubbard Creek is a perennial tributary of the North Fork of the Gunnison River and provides both domestic and agricultural supplies of water. Bear Creek, Elk Creek and Sanborn Creek are intermittent streams. Coal Gulch, the unnamed drainage, A, B and C Gulches, Hawk's Nest Creek, Hoopla Gulch, Bardine Canyon and Thompson Creek are all ephemeral drainages that flow to the North Fork of the Gunnison River. The North Fork River Basin contains a developed water supply providing agricultural water to the fruit growing region of the North Fork Valley. The North Fork River enters the main stem of the Gunnison River approximately 25 miles southwest of the Elk Creek Mine. The drainage basin of the North Fork is mountainous, bounded to the east by the Raggeds and Huntsman Ridge, to the South by the West Elk Mountains, and to the North by the Grand Mesa. Elevations in the basin range from 13,058 feet at Mt. Owen in the Ruby Range, to 5,100 feet at the confluence of the North Fork of the Gunnison and Gunnison Rivers. The town of Somerset, Colorado, immediately adjacent to the Elk Creek Mine, is at an elevation of 6,045 feet. Ground reconnaissance during 1978, 1979 and 1980 identified the Elk No. 1 Spring as the only location with ground water surfacing within the original permit area, and this Spring had a flow rate of less than one gallon per minute. It is concluded that there is no large ground water reservoir in the area. Western Slope Carbon identified and monitored 11 springs within or adjacent to the Sanborn 5