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~. ~ ~, r villa minis option shut dov~n iy 1~lf REAMY Ritrtrock owner ]effWaters. Kerr GNStaff~Wrlter declined to disclase`any more infor- A controversial strip mining motion and referred all questions to operation which opened in Engleville Waters. last fall has been permanemly shut Waters was unavailable at down after only two months of min- Pre~~ W~~Y~ ~ had not ing -due to poor coal quality. resumed phone cells, , Ivandmark Reclamation Inc., Landmark is also requesting the which was contracted by mine owner commissioners return its $6,200 cash Rimrock Coal Company to extract bond. which was required by. the the coal, sent a letter to the Las county last fall to e[rver;ahy costs of Anunas County Board of Commis- damage done to county roaS1s and stoners on February 4 notifying [hem bridges by coal hauling trucks. of its decision [o cease operations, Commissioner Dr. Stanley tber Coal was mined from the said et the camnrissi~~ers' lar Engleville strip mine area during meeting Tuesday t~te~only po.'. be November and December. thing that came out of the F,pglevj~le_ -- -~'ha -letter,- written by Lantlmar Operaliotiti Manager Mark fCerr states, "During this time, it bee apparent [hat the coal quality was no what was expected and will trot ewnomically recoverable at presen market conditions. Unfortunately fo all involved, mining by Landman has been perrttanently suspended.." Kerr told The Chronicle-New Tuesday that the decision to ce minatg operations was a "mutual decision" between Landmark an k -sMp'"i"mntn"'~g o'~eaY was that a prohibition is now written into the ame Land Use Guide against future strip t alining operations in the county. be There was no such prohibition t previously. ~, r Biber said county road foremrn' k will check d[e roads and bridges lead- ing from Engleville prix[ to resuming s the cash bond to Landmark ase Reclamation. The company must also comply d with the Colorado $ureau of Mines ~ regulations governing land redamti- tion following cesation of mining operations. Those regulations requite that the mining company put up a $62,000 reclamation bond. The county also requtred Rimrock Coal Company to put up a $53,000 performance bond when a Condi- tional Use Pemtit was issted by the commissioners in Febmary of 1991.: Four local residents were put out of work when Landmark cased operatons, -Otte of `e ees aes`~' g ' foreman, who reigned lu.#,•~L4oh ~ when he went to work for Landmark. Ken's lever indicates that all (Cootlaued oe Page ~ i -1111111111111111 111 • (Continued horn Page 1) , equipmrnt owned by l.tirtcbrtark wii~ be temaved from the site, F rv~lilic ~pp03ition. wgs raised _ ~~9 e+Rp"roposed operation. Lt 1990 and 199], the existing ewndmic deveh~pmrnt organization TREND (Trinidad Regional Economic and Natural Developmrn- t), opposed the mine on grounds that the land reclamation plan was~inade- quote, plus fear that the strip mine would be visible on f-25 north of Trinidad. Residents of the Engleville area opposed the prolcct because of ex- pected road and coal dust pollution. The Condi[ioual Use Permit is- sued by the county required Rimrack to monitor air pollution at the site, the Wck route azid the railroad load- -ingdock.__. Another delay after the penr[ii was ` issued was due to sagging coal prices, Rimrock owner William T. Davis said at the time lira[ he could make a prof[ if coal wa:: $10 a [on and no .lower. A further de]av arose when Davis died on August 15, 7991, after a lengthy period of poor health. The company was then placed in the hands ~of-Waters, who is J)avis' aon- in-law. ~~ . . Ritnrock initi;[lly said tltat the strip mine operation would even- waNyypovide up to six jobs locally.