|
PSC published a notice of the application in the Steamboat Pilot, four consecutive weeks from 11 April 2025
<br /> through 2 May 2025. No objections regarding the application were received.
<br /> The Application was reviewed for adequacy, and the Division identified fifteen items requiring updates in a
<br /> letter to PSC (dated 21 April 2025). PSC provided acceptable responses to all items on 2 July 2025. The
<br /> Division updated the Reclamation Cost Estimate in December 2024. All adequacy concerns have been
<br /> resolved. Therefore,the Division proposes approving the renewal application.
<br /> The Office of Surface Mining's applicant violator system (AVS)was queried on 10 May 2025 and 8 July
<br /> 2025 no violations were identified, and the check resulted in a recommendation to propose a decision for this
<br /> renewal.
<br /> Publication of this proposed decision initiates a thirty-day public comment period. Provided there are no
<br /> objections to the decision,the proposed decision will become final at the close of the comment period.
<br /> Description of the Environment
<br /> Location of Permit Area
<br /> The legal description of the lands included within the permit area is: Township 5 North, Range 87
<br /> West, all or portions of Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,21 and 22; Township 6
<br /> North,Range 87 West,all or portions of Sections 27,28,29, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36.
<br /> Summary
<br /> The Peabody Sage Creek Mine (PSC) is an underground mine located in Routt County,
<br /> approximately 9 miles southeast of the town of Hayden, Colorado. The Peabody Sage Creek Mine
<br /> is currently in temporary cessation status. When the mine was established, it utilized continuous
<br /> miners for entry and development work. The permit area encompasses approximately 10,164
<br /> acres of which 1,766.4 acres were previously disturbed, and portions reclaimed by Seneca Coal
<br /> Company (SCC)under the Seneca II Mine (CDRMS permit C 1980005). The total disturbance
<br /> acreage per the 2024 Annual Reclamation Report comprises 1912.8 acres. No new disturbance has
<br /> occurred since the last Renewal RN2.
<br /> The permit area varies in elevation from 6,600'to 7,800'with the portal openings at 6,690' along Little
<br /> Grassy Creek. The main mine facilities lie in Sections 2 and 3, Township 5 North, Range 8 West
<br /> and Sections 27, 34, and 35, Township 6 North, Range 87 West of the 6th Principal Meridian, and
<br /> are located adjacent to a now terminated and reclaimed surface mine excavated originally by Seneca
<br /> Coal Company's (SCC) surface mining operation (Permit No. C1980-005).
<br /> The post-mining land uses are rangeland, recreational use, and wildlife habitat.
<br /> The PSC permit does not include a variance under Rules 2.06. 2 (experimental practices),
<br /> 2.06.3 (mountaintop removal), or 2.06.5 (approximate original contour (AOC)) for steep slope
<br /> mining). No variance from contemporaneous reclamation for combined surface and underground
<br /> mining operations (2.06.7) is needed as the Seneca II Mine ceased operations in 1999 and has been
<br /> reclaimed and DRMS jurisdiction terminated. The excavated pit accessing the Wadge coal seam to
<br /> Page 5 of 27
<br />
|