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STATE OF COLORADO <br />DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 8663567 <br />FAX: (303) 832$706 <br />August 23, 2004 <br />C. Crellin Scott <br />Senior Environmental Engineer <br />Colowyo Coal Company L.P. <br />5731 State Highway 13 <br />Meeker, CO 81641 <br />Subject: Collom Pit/Mine Baseline Chazacterization Work Plan, Permit C-1981-019 <br />Dear Mr. Scott: <br />OLORADO <br />( V I S I O N O F <br />INEBRALS <br />EOLOGY <br />:LAMATION•NINING <br />SAf ETY•SCIENCE <br />gin ovens <br />Governor <br />Russell George <br />Executive Director <br />Ronald W. Cattany <br />Division Director <br />Natural Resource Trustee <br />Thank you for arranging the August 3, 2004 meeting to introduce and discuss the scope of the <br />Draft Collom Pit Work Plan for the Baseline Chazacterization Program, July 2004, WMC. <br />Attendees were yourself and Juan Gazcia of Colowyo Coal Mine (Colowyo); Jerry Rowe, Geoff <br />Beale, and Ursula Williams of Water Management Consultants, Inc. (WMC); and Dan <br />Hernandez, Janet Binns, Kent Gorham, Tom Kaldenbach, and myself of the Colorado Division <br />of Minerals and Geology (Division). Issues discussed pertained to groundwater, surface water, <br />and geochemical baseline conditions and data gathering to support mine permitting, to define the <br />water regimes (groundwater/alluvial/surface), and to evaluate key hydrologic issues associated <br />with mine development. Some discussions were expanded to consider initial permitting <br />application and operational monitoring. The Division recognizes the phased or staged approach <br />to potential future mining, and that the characterization of some baseline conditions might be <br />deferred until portions of the mining plan become more imminent. <br />Our following comments are identified with the pazagraph designations of the plan. <br />2.1 Land use. <br />We suggest this pazagraph be amended to include a discussion of the existence of other <br />agricultural land uses within the project azea. This information may have an effect on our future <br />determination of the extent of alluvial valley floors. <br />Locations and impacts of present and future oil and gas operations, and of past and present <br />mining operations, might be included in your site condition evaluations. <br />2.6 Proposed Operation <br />It is stated in this section that material from the initial box cuts will be placed as valley fill (a <br />type of excess spoil fill) in Little Collom Gulch, and that the exact footprint of this valley fill has <br />ice of Office of Colorado <br />Mined Land Reclamation Active and Inactive Mines Geological Survey <br />