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<br />efforts in that regard were made by BCC last summer. We would encourage <br />MCC and BCC, as land owners and mine permittee, to take any additional <br />agreed upon measures to discourage public access to the site near the landslide. <br />If and when the landslide impacts the reclamation work completed by BCC, an <br />assessment will be made of those impacts and potential means for alleviating or <br />mitigating those impacts will be evaluated. In the past, the Division has held <br />mine operators responsible for mitigating impacts of landslides caused by their <br />mining and reclamation efforts. We expect those same responsibilities to be met <br />at the Bear No. 3 Mine. <br />2. Bear Mine technical revision <br />The pond in the Bear Mine revision, which was approved on April 1, 1999, is <br />intended to treat the water discharging from the hillside in the vicinity of the <br />Edwards Portal. BCC and the Division hope that routing that water through a <br />passive treatment system will improve the quality of the water prior to entering <br />the North Fork of the Gunnison. The pond is approved as a temporary <br />impoundment under the coal mining rules so, several of your questions about <br />permanent impoundments are not pertinent at this time. Prior to approval of the <br />revision, BCC obtained an amendment to their CDPS permit that relocated the <br />previously approved discharge point to the site of the proposed pond outlet. <br />BCC committed to construct the pond in June, 1999. The Division expects that <br />the discharge will be routed through the pond at that time, unless the right of <br />entry matters raised in your letter become problematic. <br />As part of the same revision, BCC has committed to replace the alluvial <br />monitoring well that you refer to with at least one well in the vicinity of the one <br />that was destroyed by the landslide. The well(s) is scheduled to be installed <br />during the summer of 1999. Monitoring data from the well(s) will hopefully help <br />to determine if groundwater is being affected by the Edwards Portal discharge. <br />3. Bear Coal Company's (BCC) right of entry <br />The Division recently received a copy of a letter dated May 12, 1999 from John <br />Burns to you, regarding BCC's right of entry onto MCC's property at the Bear No. <br />3 Mine. Mr. Burns is an attorney with McKenna and Cuneo, LLP, which <br />represents BCC. 1n his letter, Mr., Burns indicates that, "there may be legal <br />arguments for the continuation of Bear's access rights" under the terms of the <br />lease which your April 16 letter discusses. Because the Division cannot <br />adjudicate property rights and, because there is an apparent difference of opinion <br />about the legal status of the lease between BCC and MCC, the Division must <br />leave resolution of this issue to MCC and BCC.. We concur with your wish that <br />