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111 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII <br />999 <br />RECLAMATION AWARD NOMINATION <br />WEST ELK MINE -MOUNTAIN COAL COMPANY <br />Large Underground Category. <br />In response to elevated combustion gas readings and probability of a coal fire, Mountain Coal <br />Company ceased production in their West Elk Mine on January 28, 2000. Shortly after this date, <br />the Mine Safety and Heal[h Administration assumed oversight of activities to locate and quench <br />coal combustion in the mine. <br />Mountain Coal Company began a drilling program into the mine from above, in an area known <br />as Apache Rocks, that happened to be the topographically highest terrain within the permit area <br />(7856 to neazly 8000'). Forced to access the area during the winter season, with deep snow and <br />mud hindering the operation, Mountain Coal Company cleared roads that were closed in the <br />winter, widened these roads to accommodate the necessary equipment, and blazed as few <br />roadways as possible. At the instruction of the surface owner -the USFS - a road was relocated <br />from its previous location within a drainage to the slopes above the streambed. Mountain Coal <br />Company laid gravel on the roads and has maintained a water truck since to control dust since <br />the dry season started. <br />The emergency drilling program drilled 43 wells in just 2 months. Mountain Coal Company <br />worked closely with the Division of Minerals and Geology and the U.S. Forest Service, along <br />with the Mine Safety and Health Administration personnel, to place the roads and drillpads and <br />to control the azea of disturbance in a remote azea of extremely steep terrain. The total disturbed <br />area was 6.5 acres. <br />A double pipeline was constructed from the mine's water tank to the Apache Rocks azea in the <br />heart of the winter season, stretching over 3.5 miles. Maintenance of the pipeline has required <br />large pump stations. Mountain Coal Company has managed this pumping project with extreme <br />caze and sensitivity to the environment, and has dedicated personnel fulltime to the maintenance <br />and oversight of the pipeline and pumping facilities. <br />Reclamation of the disturbance began in April, 2000. Mountain Coal Company quickly <br />reclaimed all those disturbed azeas for which approval was received from MSHA. Sites and <br />access roads were grades to approximate original contour, hand seeded with a seed mix <br />requested by the US Forest Service, with straw mulch carefully applied by hand over the <br />reclaimed sites. Electric fence has been installed azound all the reclaimed sites to keep grazing <br />cattle off the areas. Roads aze being reclaimed or reduced to two-track roads, as requested by <br />the Forest Service. <br />Mountain Coal Company deserves commendation for their conscientious efforts, cooperating <br />with the regulatory agencies and surface managers, during this project. The care they have <br />taken during construction and no~v reclamation of this area under severe conditions was an <br />outstanding effort. <br />