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t 6 mine floor or entered the NE Tailgate sump had substantially increased levels of total suspended solids. To reduce the volumes of water that had to be pumped outside and treated in the sediment ponds, MCC submitted a request to the Colorado Water Quality Control Division to amend its ' CDPS permit to allow direct discharge ofthe fault water to the MB-1 spillway. This amendment was approved and MCC completed the installation of a direct discharge line from the B East Mains fault inflow in a designated "clean water" pipeline to outside the mine. ' 21) The Division's assumption was correct. As discussed above and on page 2 of Dr. Mayo's ' letter, the fault inflows were about 84° F and 89° F from the B East Mains and 14 SE Headgate faults, respectively. The temperature of the water in the sealed sump has been measured at 74° F. ' 22) See the attached meeting summaries, as well as the above discussions and responses. Dan Meadors, MCC's former Operation Manager and Scott Jones, MCC's Production Superintendent inspected the Bear Mine in late 1995 to determine if Bear was encountering the same mining t conditions (poor roof and water) north of Lone Pine Gulch as the West Elk Mine had to the south. These men recalled that Dan Bear revealed that the west expansion of Third West into a small coal lease from MCC had to be halted due to poor mining conditions (including water), even ' before Bear entered this lease. Phil Schmidt met with the Bears in the Spring of 1996 to provide a precautionary notification that MCC planned to sump large quantities of water up-dip of their operation. Gary Witt of Wright Water Engineers, Christine Johnston and I met with Basil Bear in November 1996 to review Bear's mine map and to discuss their inflow experiences. Our plan to inspect the mine had to be canceled, as the Bears decided that day to close and seal the Beaz No. 3 Mine due to a significant roof fall inby their ventilation fan. (Neither of the two inflows from ' the seals could have been inspected anyway, as Bear had sealed their main entries (and access to the two seals) in August 1996. No further inflows had since been seen by Bear). ' 23) Although Bear may not have encountered thermal waters in the Bear Mine, neither Bear nor MCC had access to, nor knowledge of such conditions or changes that may have occurred in the sealed Edwards Mine. As discussed above, MCC has found evidence of continued spontaneous ' combustion in the C-seam of the Bear Mine. MSHA inspectors interviewed by MCC, stated that Bear had historic carbon monoxide problems with their mine ventilation. Carbon monoxide, a product of coal combustion, would occasionally move through (or "in-gas") from behind the C- seam seals in the Bear Mine that bracketed the entire length of their main entries from the portals to the B seam access slopes. MCC believes that spontaneous combustion is a very plausible and ' the most likely source of heat for the Edwards Mine discharge. ' MCC believes that the above information, along with discussions during the three previous meetings with the Division (per the attached summaries and exhibits), the December 18, 1997 meeting and the subsequent (January 1998) report by Wright Water Engineers entitled, ' "Evaluation of Bear No. 3 Landslide", the January 21, 1998 meeting and the January 20, 1998 report by Mayo and Associates entitled, "Comparison of West Elk Mine Discharge Water with Discharge Water from the Edwards Mine Portal, Somerset, CO", and the subsequent supplement ' dated February 20, 1998, provides the necessary information and documentation to refute the allegations ofNOV No. CV-97-022. Thus, MCC respectfully requests that this NOV be vacated.