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public notice. <br />BCC requested the bond release in a submittal dated November 26, 2003 and received at the Division <br />on December 1, 2003. BCC requested bond release for structural demolition, the sealing of the three <br />mine portals and backfilling and grading of the portal benches, the portal access road, the two conveyor <br />light use roads and the facilities azea. A total of about 8.4 acres had been disturbed at the Beaz No. 3 <br />Mine. In SL-03, BCC requested that $96,000.00 of the $160,000.00 in bond be released. <br />The submittal dated November 26, 2003 for SL-03 included the information that is required in Rule <br />3.03.2(1)(a) and (b). In a second submittal, dated January 6,2004 and received at the Division on <br />January 8, 2004, BCC submitted the proof of publication as required in Rule 3.03.2(1)(c). <br />The submittal for SL-3 was deemed complete by the Division on January 16, 2004. As stated in Rule <br />3.03.2(2), the field inspection is to be held within 30 days of the completeness date, or as soon <br />thereafter when weather conditions permit. Due to adverse weather conditions, the Division informed <br />the concerned parties in letters dated February 6, 2004 that the inspection would be postponed until site <br />conditions improved. Later, in letters dated June 25, 2004, the Division informed those same parties <br />that the bond release inspection would be held on July 20, 2004. <br />The Bear No. 3 mining operation is located approximately ten miles northeast of Paonia, Colorado, and <br />one-quarter mile east of Somerset, Colorado, adjacent to the North Fork of the Gunnison River. The <br />Bear No. 3 Mine is accessed from State Highway 133 just east of Somerset, Colorado. <br />The original permit C-81-033 for Beaz No. 3 was issued on July 19, 1982. Coal was extracted from the <br />B and C Seams within Bear fee coal and within Federal Coal Leases <br />D-052501, COC57632, COC57633 and C-0117192. At the Bear No. 3 Mine, average annual <br />production ranged from 250,000 to 500,000 tons of coal using the room and pillaz method. <br />The Beaz No. 3 Mine was not the first coal mine operation at this site. Previous mining operators began <br />mining in 1934 in the lower coal seam, called the B Seam and progressed later into the upper coal <br />seam, called the C Seam. The B Seam and the C Seam coal beds were accessed by way of portals in <br />each of the coal beds, although several raises were constructed later between the B Seam and the C <br />Seam to facilitate coal haulage out of the mine. Various names have been given to these mining <br />operations and various coal companies have done the mining. In general, however, the pre-Beaz No. 3 <br />mine is now called the Edwards/Clark Mine. Coal mining eventually ceased in the Edwazds/Clazk <br />Mine in 1965. <br />The following summary regarding the underground mining details is based upon information provided <br />by BCC. When BCC started the Bear No. 3 Mine in the early 1980's, the operator decided to use three <br />of the old Edwazds/Clark Mine C-seam portals for access to the C-seam coal, rather than construct <br />their own portals. The operator rehabilitated and widened the Edwards/Clark portal access road to gain <br />access to the Edwards/Clazk portals. The Bear No. 3 Mine startup also involved cleaning up the cave- <br />ins in the former C-seam mains of the Edwards/Clazk Mine that drove south for 2500 feet. Small side <br />panels in the C-seam mains were mined out by BCC in order to provide storage places for disposal of <br />the cave-in material. After they were filled in, these side storage areas were sealed. No other mining in <br />the Edwazds/Clark Mine was done by BCC, although one of the raises from the C-seam to the B-seam <br />was filled in by BCC. The three Beaz No. 3 portals were used for the beltline, the air intake and for the <br />exhaust fan. Retaining walls were constructed at the exhaust fan site and at the beltline and air intake <br />2 <br />