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<br /> part of June, the Division received OSM's Apparent Completeness Review of the application,
<br /> which was subsequently incorporated into the July MLRD Preliminary Adequacy Review
<br /> Letter and then forwarded to the company. On January 13, 1981, a meeting was held
<br /> between OSM and MLRD to assess the adequacy of MCC's responses, and it was at this
<br /> point in time that the responses were found to be substantially inadequate in .a variety of
<br /> aspects. This resulted in a decision to prepare a second, joint adequacy letter which was sent
<br /> to the company on February 6, 1981.
<br /> On January 30, 1981 the Division received additional comments from the Division of Water
<br /> Resources which outlined the deficiencies in the application with regard to water rights and,
<br /> in particular, with the deficiencies of the proposed Minnesota Creek Basin Augmentation
<br /> Plan. Additional comments on water rights issues were submitted in February and March in
<br /> the form of objection letters from several concerned citizens. These letters also discussed
<br /> problems relating to alluvial valley floors, protection for perennial streams, the potential for
<br /> landslides to be triggered by subsidence, cumulative hydrologic impacts, the adequacy of
<br /> MCC's subsidence monitoring and subsidence control plans, and a number of procedural
<br /> issues. These objections resulted in several requests for a mine site visit and informal
<br /> conference, which were held on April 30, 1981 and May 12, 1981, respectively. The
<br /> Division began preparation ol.' its written findings soon after the conference and published its
<br /> proposed decision on June 22, 1981. The Division's decision was to approve the West Elk
<br /> permit application with several stipulations.
<br /> The five-year permit was issued on July 31, 1981, pursuant to the Colorado Surface Coal
<br /> Mining Reclamation Act, CRS 34-33-101 et seq. Construction of the West Elk Mine began
<br /> in 1981. The mine began producing coal from the F Seam in January 1982. The expiration
<br /> of this permit was set at July 31, 1986. On January 17, 1986, a complete renewal
<br /> application was received. This application was subsequently reviewed and the Division
<br /> issued a proposed decision to approve the renewal application with stipulations. Following
<br /> the public comment period, the permit was renewed on May 19, 1987. The permit was to
<br /> expire on August 1, 1991. The Division received MCC's complete renewal application on
<br /> January 30, 1991 thereby serving the operator's right to successive renewal pursuant to
<br /> 2.08.5(3))f). The Division issued a proposed decision to approve the renewal application
<br /> with stipulations, and following the public comment period, the permit was renewed on
<br /> January 29, 1993, and will expire on August 1, 1996.
<br /> The Division received an application for a permit revision on February 4, 1994 and was
<br /> subsequently deemed complete on February 14, 1994. The Division issued the first
<br /> preliminary adequacy review letter on April 15, 1994, which identified deficiencies in
<br /> Geology, Hydrology, and Subsidence. MCC's responses to the preliminary review were
<br /> received via facsimile on June 3, 1994. The proposed decision date was extended by MCC
<br /> from June 14, 1994, to July 8, 1994. A second adequacy review letter was sent to MCC on
<br /> July 5, 1994. MCC requested another extension to the decision date to July 22, 1994. A
<br /> meeting between the Division and MCC to assist them in responding adequately to the
<br /> Division's questions was held on July 14, 1994. MCC requested another extension for the
<br /> proposed decision to August 26, 1994, and subsequently to September 16, 1994, then
<br /> September 23, 1994; October 7, 1994; and finally to October 21, 1994. Additional review
<br /> materials were received September 30, October 7, 14, and-30, 1994. A meeting was also
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