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The mines are located$ on federal and private lands9 about seven miles southwest of Carbondale, <br /> within Pitkin County, Colorado. There were two portal areas, Portal 1 located10 to the south of <br /> County Road 108 and North Thompson Creek, Portal 3 located10 to the north of County Road <br /> 108. No record was found where a third portal, located 8 between US Forest Service Road 306 <br /> and Middle Thompson Creek, was used during permanent permit time periods. An air shaft, the <br /> Stoney Ridge air shaft, was located29 in the Middle Thompson Creek drainage to the south of <br /> Portal 1. Coal processing and other major surface facilities were located10 to the northeast of <br /> Portal 1 between North Thompson Creek and County Road 108. Coal was hauled by truck via <br /> County Road 108 and a spur road to a loadout facility11. The spur road and loadout facility, <br /> included in the permit, are located on private lands 2 within Garfield County, Colorado, <br /> northwest of Carbondale. Coal was dumped from trucks on the west side of the Roaring Fork <br /> River, and conveyed by a conveyor belt across the Roaring Fork River to a rail loadout facility <br /> on the east side of the river19. The former permit area east of the center of the Roaring Fork River <br /> (the 29-acre Diamond A parcel) was released from bonding requirements13 and the permit in <br /> 199420, and is not included in the current permit. The permitted mine facilities along the North <br /> Thompson Creek are referred to as the "mine site", and the permitted loadout facility (west of the <br /> Roaring Fork River) is referred to as the "loadout site", in this Midterm Review Document. <br /> The permit includes14 1,516 acres of federal and 1,820 acres of private lands, of which'$ 3300 are <br /> at the mine site and 36 at the loadout. Of these, 67.714 have been disturbed by surface activities. <br /> By 198816, demolition of structures and grading and seeding of disturbed areas had been <br /> completed, and a Phase I bond release16 was approved. However, mine water seeps had <br /> developed Portal 1. A 2.2-acre17 area was re-disturbed to accommodate a mine water discharge <br /> collection system and treatment facility in 1988. In 199523, mine water discharges from Portal 3 <br /> were diverted to the treatment facility, resulting in a total of 2.6 acres re-disturbed for the mine <br /> water portals discharges collection and treatment system. A 100% bond release71 (reduction) was <br /> approved in 1993 for a section (approximately 2 acres30) of permanent road located in the <br /> loadout site. In summary, reclamation has progressed to the point that approximately 63.1 acres <br /> (including areas of permanent features) have been granted Phase I bond release, and 2 acres have <br /> been granted a 100% bond reduction. The areas of the mine water discharge collection and <br /> treatment system is a subject of special interest, and is addressed later in this review. <br /> There have been no Notices of Violation issued against the 1998 permit. <br /> SECTION II—REVISIONS TO THE PERMIT <br /> The following is a summary of the revisions to the permit. <br /> Technical Revision 20, October 1, 1998. This technical revision (TR) involved changes in the <br /> Permit Application Package (PAP) that updated the description of the status of the mine site, and <br /> addressed the mine portal disharge flows as well as reclamation issues concerning revegetation <br /> and backfilling of the Portal 1 area. <br /> North Thompson Creek Mines -4- 6 Feb 2001 <br />