ENFORCE31637

• Permit No: C1980007
• IBM Index Class Name: Enforcement
• Doc Date: 12/17/1993
• Doc Name: Letter on Subsidence Monitoring at Mine
• From: MOUNTAIN COAL CO
• To: USFS PAONIA
• Violation No.: CV1993112
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

.,

Mountain Coal Company
West EIk Mine
Post Office Box 597
Somerset, Colorado 81434
Telephone [phone]
Fax [phone]
December 10, 1993

Mr. Ray L. Kingston,
District Ranger
U.S. Forest Service
Paonia, Ranger District
P.O.Box 1030
Paonia, CO 81428
DEC 17 1993

III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
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Re: Mountain Coal Company's Mining Plans
Dear Mr. Kingston:
As you know, Mountain Coal Company (MCC) holds Federal coal leases and has conducted and
continues underground mining operations beneath U.S. Forest Service (U.S.F.S.) surface lands in
Sections 21, 28, 29 and 30 T13S, R90W of the 6th Principal Meridian. The U.S.F.S. was first
made aware of MCC's mining plans in the mid-1970's through the application and approval
processes for our coal exploration and leasing environmental data acquisition projects. The
original mining and reclamation plan approved in 1981, and the numerous, subsequent renewals
and revisions which have been reviewed and approved by your office have provided specific
mining plans and the impacts of such.
In summary of MCC's mining activities, development mining (the mining of entries and cross-cuts,
leaving pillars of coal to support the roof) in the main entries of F seam (the uppermost mineable
seam) first crossed under the north line of Section 21 in March 1984. Development of the main
entries continued to the south and were ended beneath the north half of the northwest quarter of
Section 28. Development mining also continued to the west and south into the first room and
pillaz panels, crossing under the north U.S.F.S. property line in the southeast quarter of Section
20 late in 1985. Retreat mining (mining of the pillars of coal, allowing the roof to cave and settle,
subsiding (or lowering) the ground surface above) of this first panel in the F seam occurred in
April 1986. Authorization for constructing a subsidence monitoring network on U.S.F. S. lands
above this and adjacent panels was requested in July 1984 and approved shortly thereafter.
Development and subsequent retreat mining continued in the F seam panels beneath U.S.F.S.
surface lands in Section 20 and in one panel in Section 28 until December 1989. No further
mining in this seam is anticipated to occur.
Development mining of longwall panels (creating very long, wide pillars) in the B Seam (the
lowest mineable seam) beneath U.S.F. S. surface lands began in December 1991. Development
(and subsequent retreat mining) of the north-south oriented panels are completed in the eastern-