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On October 22, 1996, the Division notified the ODM that we had no[ received anything <br />regarding this matter since the FAX transmission. At the time of the proposed decision of <br />Permit Renewal No. 1 (RN-Ol) the Division has not received further information with regard <br />to this matter. <br />On February 19, 1997, the Division received correspondence from the OSM with regard to <br />deny recommendations received through the AVS. The OSM advised a condition be attached <br />to a permit due to a deny recommendation. The Division determined that the Rimrock Mine <br />situation would also warrant that this same permit condition be attached to the Rimrock Mine <br />Permit Renewal approval. Therefore, Stipulation no. 7, is a condition of this Permit Renewal <br />approval (see Stipulation section). <br />Description of the Environment <br />The Rimrock Mine permit area is situated on steep terrain dissected by numerous drainages <br />(EXHIBIT AA). The local topography has been lazgely shaped by the tributaries of the <br />Purgatoire River. <br />Elevation on the mine property ranges from about 6,500 feet in the valley where Engleville <br />Gulch flows out of the permit area to 6,900 feet in the eastern part of the property. The <br />climate is semi-azid with annual precipitation of 13" to 15". Prevailing winds aze from the <br />southeast at an average speed of 8 miles per hour. <br />The permit area lies within the Engleville Gulch watershed, whose resident stream is an <br />ephemeral tributary of the Purgatoire River and has its headwaters on the northern flank of <br />Fisher's Peak to the southeast of the mine permit area. The major topographic feature in the <br />area is Fisher's Peak. Geologically, the mine site is centrally located along the eastern edge <br />of the Raton Basin which is an asymmetrical structure with a steep to overturned western <br />limb and gentle eastern limb. Structural dip of the sedimentary sequence in the permit azea is <br />approximately 2° to the west southwest. There are three water bearing lithologic units <br />identified in the permit area. These are the Raton Formation, Vermejo Formation and the <br />Trinidad Sandstone, listed from youngest to oldest. The Trinidad Sandstone is the only <br />aquifer of regional significance in the area. <br />One coal seam, the Engleville seam, was proposed to be mined under the proposed plan. The <br />Engleville seam occurs near the stratigraphic center of the Vermejo Formation, a 55 foot <br />section chazacterized by alternating beds of shale, siltstone, and sandstone. The coal seam <br />averages about 10 feet in thickness throughout the proposed mine site. <br />Soils on the side slopes of the mine site aze shallow, being derived from pazent sandstone and <br />shale layers which outcrop in the area. Soils in the permit and adjacent areas aze mixtures of <br />two major units, the Ayon and Capulin loam soil units. This type of soil is classified as class <br />IV, a category of soils that requires careful management because of severe limitations that <br />restrict land use options. <br />5 <br />