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<br />IBIA 96-90, 96-91
<br />principal t.~tPr+~;an, I,as Anjnas County, Colorado. The shaft was intended
<br />to provide exhaust and ventilation for its ,,.ao, ~rr„nr~ mine workings knave
<br />as the "First Left Lcstt~rall Panel." These workings inwlve3 miniuxJ by the
<br />longvrall method, which resulted in the removal of a series of 600-foot-wide
<br />panels nnnuig along the strike of the coal (N. 25" W.), adjacent to devel-
<br />oizt~t mains.. The southern edge of the panels and the adjacent develoFnw~t
<br />mains were 530 and 370 feet fran the'tatums' water well (Well No. 10),
<br />which is 300 feet swth of their northern property line.
<br />SRI's revised permit provided that "every reasonable attempt" would
<br />be Wade to eliminate or reduce the flow of grtxu><i water into the airshaft.
<br />Thus, when it drilled the shaft upwards frrm a total depth of 640 feet in
<br />January 1991, BRI sealed any fractures in the surrounding ror~o, prior to
<br />drillir>sg, by injecting gnat through three drillholes and cased the open
<br />borehole;-following, drilling, with steel.-- Despite ffiZi-!s efforts, however,
<br />water, flowing at the rate of from 34 to 2-1/2•gallons per minute, was
<br />encantered at various elevations in the shaft, all of which were belay
<br />the bottan of the T~tums' well.
<br />North of State Highway 12, BRI's airshaft is 355 feet northwest of
<br />the Tatums' water well. 'That well, which had historically used a winclnill
<br />to bring water to the surface for livestock waterin3 purposes, was con-
<br />structed by the Thtums' predecessor-in-interest saretime before 1972. The
<br />well was determined on March 1, 1995, during a joint inspection by LriG a~
<br />OSM, in the coztpany of T~tutns and BRL personnel, to be 145.1 feet deep.
<br />(Field Notes, dated Mamh 1, 1995, at 1; ~ Letter to LNG fZrCTI the T~ttIIR4,
<br />dated July 12, 1994 ("apprYndnately 146 feet").) Thus, the well was c~m-
<br />pleted in a geologic zone about 450 feet above the coal seam mined by ffitI
<br />in the Ratcai Fornation. Six-inch diameter casing was also faun to be vis-
<br />ible for a distance of at least 30 or 40 feet down in the well. At the
<br />time BRI's perntit was issued in 1984, the well, which was not permitted by
<br />the ~lorado Office of the State E2rgineer, Division of Water Resources, was
<br />listed in ffitI's well survey as "not functimung." However, no record was
<br />made of the level or quantity of water in the well. Nevertheless, HRI was
<br />required, in its permit, to take appropriate mitigative measures, if its
<br />misting activities seriously affected the potential usage of any water well
<br />within 1 mile of its operations.
<br />The evidence establishes that the T~ttms nevps used the water well;
<br />rather it received curly historic use. (Letter to LNG fmn the T~tums,
<br />dated Febn~ary 9, 1993; "7nvestigatian into Possible Adverse 7ttpacts of
<br />Mining Operations on the'Tatum Winrlnill Well," dated June 6, 1995, (June
<br />1995 IDT Report) at 2.) Tho[[gscn stated, in his Decanter 10, 1993, depo-
<br />sition, that he found the well inapPr+ble on the various occasions that he
<br />observed it after February 1990, because "the'mechar>_ism that powers the
<br />winr3~ni11 has been disconnected." (Deposition at 20.)
<br />The Thtums have not asserted that they operated the well at any time
<br />during their ownership of their ].and or that it was ever in a condition to
<br />be operated. They claim curly that they "had:the wintinill loolaed at in 1990
<br />151 giLp, 289
<br />~:itS !r7}_r psi(
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