Page 3
<br />t~51 Interior Dec. 286
<br />Kite as: 151 Interior Dec. 266, *288, 2000 WL 1740340, **2 (D.O.I.))
<br />hat operation involved construction of 18-foot-wide, 7.5-foot-high entries,
<br />urrounding 80-foot-square pillars. However, this mining ceased in July 1988
<br />when productivity decreased and it became uneconomic to continue mining.
<br />Ronald K. Thompson, a BRI employee who commenced work for the company in
<br />~ebruary 1990, explained, in a December 10, 1993, deposition, that he understood
<br />that water had accumulated in the workings, softening the mine floor and slowing
<br />perations. (Deposition at 27.) He stated that the mine was later sealed off and
<br />~illed with water, thus preventing access. Id. at 4.
<br />On November 27, 1990, DMG approved Technical Revision No. 15 to BRI's permit,
<br />which provided for drilling a 10- to 12-foot diameter airshaft ("NW-1 Shaft") to
<br />depth of 590 feet in sec. 19, T. 33 S., R. 67 W., Sixth *289 Principal
<br />~heridian, Las Animas County, Colorado. The shaft was intended to provide exhaust
<br />and ventilation for its underground mine workings known as the "First Left
<br />~ongwall Panel." These workings involved mining by the longwall method, which
<br />esulted in the removal of a series of 600-foot-wide panels running along the
<br />strike of the coal (N. 25 «degrees » W.), adjacent to o development mains. The
<br />outhern edge of the panels and the adjacent development mains were 530 and 370
<br />eet from the Tatums' water well (well No. 10), which is 300 feet south of their
<br />northern property line.
<br />**3 BRI's revised permit provided that "every reasonable attempt" would be
<br />~ade to eliminate or reduce the flow of ground water into the airshaft. Thus,
<br />when it drilled the shaft upwards from a total depth of 640 feet in January
<br />'991, BRI sealed any fractures in the surrounding rock, prior to drilling, by
<br />[~n~ecting grout through three drillholes and cased the open borehole, following
<br />drilling, with steel. Despite BRI's efforts, however, water, flowing at the rate
<br />f from 1/2 to 2-1/2 gallons per minute, was encountered at various elevations
<br />~n the shaft, all of which were below the bottom of the Tatums' well.
<br />North of State Highway 12, BRI's airshaft is 355 feet northwest of the Tatums'
<br />water well. That well, which had historically used a windmill to bring water to
<br />`he surface for livestock watering purposes, was constructed by the Tatums'
<br />predecessor-in-interest sometime before 1972. The well was determined on March
<br />1, 1995, during a joint inspection by DMG and OSM, in the company of Tatums and
<br />{RI personnel, to be 145.1 feet deep. (Field Notes, dated March 1, 1995, at 1;
<br />ee Letter to DMG from the Tatums, dated July 12, 1994 ("approximately 146
<br />feet").) Thus, the well was completed in a geologic zone about 450 feet above
<br />he coal seam mined by BRI in the Raton Formation. Six- inch diameter casing was
<br />~lso found to be visible for a distance of at least 30 of 40 feet down in the
<br />well. At the time BRI's permit was issued in 1984, the well, which was not
<br />jpermitted by the Colorado Office of the State Engineer, Division of Water
<br />`esources, was listed in BRI's well survey as "not functioning." However, no
<br />record was made of the level or quantity of water in the well. Nevertheless, BRI
<br />'•as required, in its permit, to take appropriate mitigative measures, if its
<br />~ining activities seriously affected the potential usage of any water well
<br />within 1 mile of its operations.
<br />The evidence establishes that the Tatums never used the water well; rather it
<br />eceived only historic use. (Letter to DMG from the Tatums, dated February 9,
<br />993; "Investigation into Possible Adverse Impacts of Mining Operations on the
<br />Tatum Windmill Well," dated June 6, 1995, (June 1995 DMG Report) at 2.) Thompson
<br />Copr. m West 2001 No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works
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