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Creek yazd. The West Valley Fill coal refuse azea was permitted through Technical Revision No. <br />29 for use when the East Yard waste pile was filled to capacity. The operator began using the <br />West Valley Fill coal refuse azea during the third quarter of 2000. Non-combustible mine <br />development waste will be disposed of underground in finished C-seam mine workings in a <br />fashion approved by the Mine Safety and Health Administration. <br />On January 26, 1999, Oxbow Mining evacuated the Sanbom Creek Mine due to elevated levels <br />of cazbon monoxide. The concern was that the elevated levels may have indicated a mine fire. <br />The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the DMG were notified. Emergency <br />measures were taken to seal the mine openings. Two days after the sealing of the mine openings, <br />there was an explosion in the mine, presumably due to a buildup of methane. MSHA directed <br />Oxbow Mining to drill emergency boreholes into the mine, for water injection and for gas <br />monitoring. In February of 1999, Oxbow Mining pumped about 88 acre-feet of water from the <br />North Fork of the Gunnison River,through one of the emergency boreholes, into the Sanbom <br />Creek Mine in the longwall azea where the spontaneous combustion event was suspected of <br />being located. <br />In April of 1999, Oxbow Mining concluded that additional inflow was coming into the mine and <br />might flood the longwall equipment. The source of the additional inflow was not known but the <br />approximate rate of inflow was about 200 gpm. With Division approval through Technical <br />Revision No. 34, Oxbow pumped out mine water into the North Fork of the Gunnison at a rate <br />of about 2000 gpm. The pumping occurred from July 1999 to the first week of October 1999. <br />The operator decided to dewater only half of the longwall panel in question and stabilize the <br />water level in the mine thereafter. The longwall restarted operations at the beginning of <br />November 1999. <br />In anticipation of the eventual mining out of the Sanbom Creek Mine B seam reserves, Oxbow <br />Mining, Inc. submitted, on November 6, 1998, a revision to begin construction of the new Elk <br />Creek Mine. Technical Revision No. 32 sought Division approval to construct the new portals <br />and their associated surface facilities, and to begin mining of private coal at this new mine. The <br />construction proposed in TR-32 increased the disturbed area by 23.7 acres. The proposed mine <br />location is to the north of the main Sanborn Creek Mine facilities, along the west side of Elk <br />Creek. TR-32 was approved in July of 2000. <br />In TR-32, Oxbow Mining proposed to construct two temporary fills over Elk Creek. Fill material <br />was placed within the channel of Elk Creek and the creek flow was diverted through two nine- <br />foot diameter culverts buried by the two fills. Oxbow Mining submitted a geotechnical stability <br />analysis demonstrating that the two fills in Elk Creek will be stable. For fmal reclamation of the <br />Elk Creek Mine facilities, the two nine-foot culverts will be removed and the Elk Creek channel <br />will be reconstructed incompliance with Rule 4.05.4. <br />These activities proposed in TR-32 required specific authorization by the Division in accordance <br />with Rule 4.05.4(4), Stream Channel Diversions (Relocation of Streams) and Stream Channel <br />Reconstruction, and Rule 4.05.18, Stream Buffer Zones. Therefore, the Division made the <br />