HYDRO27589 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 999 Mountain Coal Company west Elk R9ne Post Ogee Bex 591 Somerset, Cdoretlo 8,0.74 Telepha,e 970 9235015 Fax 970 9235595 April 23, 1997 Mr. Jon C. Kubic, Environmental Protection Specialist Permits and Enforcement Section Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Water Quality Control Division (WQCD) 4300 Cherry Creek Drive South Denver, CO 80222-1530 RECEIVED.` APR 281987` Givieion of Mlnerele 8 Geober Re: Mountain Coal Company (MCC), West Elk Mine, CDPS Permit No. CO-0038776, Proposed Amendment, Combined Outfalls from Discharge Point MB-1 (002), Freshwater No.l (006) and Clear Mine Water Discharge and Construction of a Mine Water Treatment Plant Dear Mr. Kubic: Thank you for meeting with both Phil Schmidt and I yesterday. The meeting was informative to us regarding the new personnel changes and re-organization of the WQCD. As we discussed with Mr. Phil Hageman and you in the meeting, MCC is proposing to combine three discharges into one discharge point to reduce sampling redundancy and is also proposing to construct a mine water treatment plant to reduce total suspended solids. Additionally, it was our understanding that because the proposed mine water treatment plant will not treat hazardous pollutants or septage, the plant will not require an industrial wastewater treatment plant permit. The request for a discharge point for the mine water treatment plant will be submitted to the WQCD as soon as the final designs are completed. Referring to the attached map, MCC proposes to combine Dischazge Points Nos. 002 and 006 and to add cleaz mine water discharges into one discharge point. These three discharges are duetted to the North Fork of the Gunnison River in the same spillway, culverts, and ditches. The individual components of the combined discharge are described as follows: MB-1(outfall 002) collects stormwater run-off and mine water typically containing >35 mg/L total suspended solids (TSS) that requires treatment; Fresh Water No. l (outfall 006) discharges fresh water occasionally over-pumped from the North Fork of the Gunnison River (this is infrequently done in the winter when there is a danger of freezing the pumps at the Raw Water Intake Gallery); the clear mine water discharge would be a duect discharge of water from the mine that has been collected and segregated in the mine and meets the Colorado Discharge Permit System standards without additional treatment. Both MB-1 (outfall 002) and the clear mine water discharge would