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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br />• Seneca Coal Company has prepared the accompanying application to continue surface <br />mining and reclamation operations at the Seneca II Mine for the years 1996 <br />through 2002. <br />The Seneca II Mine is operating currently under an existing permit which was <br />issued by the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board in January 1993. The permit, <br />C-80-005, is valid for a five-year term until February 1997. <br />The Seneca II Mine is located in Routt County, Colorado, approximately nine miles <br />southeast of the town of Hayden (see Figure 1-1). The mine produces <br />approximately 1.5 million tons of bituminous coal annually. Production at <br />Seneca II will cease when -all strippable coal reserves have been removed. <br />Production will continue at Seneca II-W and will then commence at the Yoast Mine <br />area (see Figure 1-1). All of the coal from the Seneca II Mine is hauled by <br />truck to the Hayden Station Power Plant. The power plant, owned and operated by <br />Public Service of Colorado, has one 16B megawatt (net) unit and one 250 megawatt <br />(net) unit. <br />The Seneca II Mine, previous to 1968, operated north of Highway 40 and was known <br />at that time as Seneca 2. The current mine has operated in the present location <br />since 1968. The mine currently employs 86 people, this includes 18 non- <br />represented (company) management and 68 represented (union) employees. No <br />additional employment is expected within the next five years at the Seneca II <br />Mine. <br />The general type of mining employed at Seneca II is the area surface mining <br />method. No auger mining has taken place during the last five years and will not <br />be employed over the remainder of the current permit term. The typical mining <br />sequence would begin with the removal of all suitable topsoil in an area prior to <br />mining disturbance. These soils are either stockpiled for future use or <br />redistributed directly on graded spoils. After topsoil removal, Seneca employs <br />an electrically powered dragline to remove the overburden. The overburden from <br />the pit presently being worked <br />• <br />1-1 Revised 08/19/96 <br />