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III 1111111111111111 999 kerr coal company one tabor center • suite 2500 1200 seventeenth street • denver, Colorado 80202 August 17, 1994 ~303~623~8317 twx 910-9312561 DTI i/ Mr. Thomas E. Ehmett Acting Director Albuquerque Field Office Office of Surface Mining United States Department of the Interior 505 Marquette Avenue N.W., Suite 1200 Albuauertxue, New Mexico 57102 Dear Mr. Ehmett: AUG i ~ 1994 [r? :f.'(?tl C'. r. u~ c~aa 4 ~. ;,,.spy Re: Kerr Coal Company: Notice of Violation No. N94-020-352-3 This letter follows our meeting with Mr. Michael Long, Director of the Colorado Department of Minerals and Geology in Grand Junction, Colorado, on August 16, 1994. We discussed quite a broad array of issues during that meeting, and I wanted to take this opportunity to summarize the key points of this situation from the perspective of Kerr Coal Company. I am attaching a copy of the Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty Assessment ("Notice") which we discussed during our meeting. I call your attention to the language contained in the section of the Notice dealing with the degree of negligence being asserted against Kerr Coal Company. We believe the description of our conduct, as well as that of the State of Colorado, is without foundation and, frankly, in a commercial setting would be considered by us as actionable. In addition to the innuendo of collusive activity between Kerr and the State of Colorado, the Notice asserts that there will be stability, productivity and watershed problems arising from the final reclamation plan approved by the State in 1990 and completed by Kerr in 1993. Kerr believes there are no negative environmental impacts from the final reclamation plan. Additionally, I am providing you with a copy of a questions and answers document submitted to the BLM office in Craig, Colorado. The answers to the questions were prepared by the Kremmling office and approved by the State Director of BLM. As you will note, BLM concludes that no such problems exist. Additionally, OSM has admitted in their Answer to Kerr's initial Application for Temporary Relief that "the violations cited in the NOV do not create conditions that adversely affect the health or safety of the public or cause significant, imminent environmental harm to land, air, or water resources." (Copy attached) As we discussed, the only change that can be identified is a small change in the