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Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance
<br />Partial Phase I, II and III Bond Release SL-23 Page 3 of 16
<br />II. PROCEDURES AND SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW PROCESS
<br />
<br />Colowyo Coal Company L.P. applied for a partial Phase I, II and III bond release for 5.5 acres associated with
<br />the East Pit as shown on Map 1 of the SL-23 application and Figure 1 of this document. This includes the
<br />Streeter Pond and Streeter Ditch. Streeter Pond was requested by the landowner, Tri-State Generation and
<br />Transmission Association, Inc. (Tri-State), to be retained as a permanent structure, approved under MR259.
<br />The request from the landowner for the pond to remain as a permanent structure is found in Volume 2A,
<br />Exhibit 1B in the Colowyo Permit Application Package (PAP). The bond release area is located in Moffat
<br />County in Colowyo Coal Mine' s East Pit in portions of Township 3 North, Range 93 West of the 6th P.M.,
<br />Section 2 – N ½ and Section 3 – NW ¼. The permit area can be found on the USGS Quadrangle 7.5
<br />Minute Series Maps of Axial and Nine Mile Gap. The permit area and surface ownership can be found
<br />on Map 1 of the Colowyo Permit Application Package (PAP), and the coal ownership can be found on
<br />Map 2 of the Colowyo PAP.
<br />
<br />An application for Phase I, II, III bond release was received by the Division on September 16, 2024. The application
<br />was deemed complete on September 26, 2024, after the Division received proof of publication of the applicant's
<br />public notice. Colowyo Coal Company L.P. published notice of the bond release application in CO Mountain News
<br />Media - Craig Daily Press once weekly for four consecutive weeks, beginning October 2, 2024, and ending on
<br />October 23, 2024. Colowyo Coal Company L.P. also notified landowners within and adjacent to the mine permit
<br />area, and other interested parties of the application for bond release, as required by Rule 3.03.2(1).
<br />
<br />No comments, written objections, or requests for an informal conference regarding the bond release application were
<br />received by the Division.
<br />
<br />The Division scheduled and conducted a bond release inspection on October 30, 2024. The site inspection was
<br />conducted in accordance with Rule 3.03.2(2). The inspection was attended by Hunter Ridley of the Division, James
<br />Stark of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OMSRE) and by Tennyson and Tom Fry
<br />representing CCC. The BLM was notified of the inspection via certified mail but did not attend. A summary of
<br />the bond release inspection is presented in Section III, of this document. Detailed observations of the
<br />inspection are documented in the inspection report that was issued November 12, 2024. See Figure 1 of this
<br />document for the location of the SL-23 partial Phase I, II, III Bond Release area.
<br />
<br />Background
<br />
<br />The East Pit and West Pit mining sites lie just west of the northward flowing Goodspring (also referred
<br />to as Good Spring) Creek, which is paralleled by Colorado Highway 13. The area includes gently
<br />sloping uplands and valleys that cut into the upland surface. These valleys are generally narrow, V-
<br />shaped, and about 250 to 500 feet deep. Elevations range from approximately 7,650 feet in the upper
<br />portion of East Pit reclamation to 6,950 feet near East Taylor Pond.
<br />
<br />Mining operations began in 1976 with the East Pit, a multi-seam coal operation that continued to move
<br />in a southerly direction. Eight coal seams (Y, X, A, B, C, D, E, F) were mined from the East Pit,
<br />ranging in thickness from two to fifteen feet. The East Pit is nearly 6,000 feet from east to west (width),
<br />1,000 feet in breadth (highwall to highwall), and 450 feet deep. Due to the number of coal seams,
<br />immense size of the pit, and manpower and equipment employed, pit progression was slow, with
<br />additional disturbances of approximately 40 to 50 acres per year.
<br />Extraction of coal from the East Pit was terminated in 2006. All reclamation activities have been
<br />completed in the East Pit and is in the required final revegetation stages.
<br />
<br />The West Pit is located to the west of the East Pit. The method of operation utilized in, and the coal
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