GENERAL38867

• Permit No: C1981019
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 11/20/2000
• Doc Name: Midterm Review Findings Document
• Permit Index Doc Type: Findings
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

C-81-019 2000 Midterm Review
November 20, 2000
Acronyms
CDPS Colorado Discharge Permit System
CIRCES Colorado Integrated Reclamation Cost Estimating System
Division Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology
MR Minor Revision
NOI Exploration Notice of Intent
NPDES National Pollution Discharge Elimination System
OSMRE Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
PAP Permit Application Package. A set of text, drawings, maps, and exhibits,
consisting often Volumes, that describe mining and reclamation operations, and
demonstrates compliance with the Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land
Reclamation Board for Coal Mining
Permit A permit , C-81-019, for mining operations, issued by the Colorado Division of
Minerals and Geology. In this review, this term included the PAP and all files and
reports associated with the permit.
Rules Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining
SL Surety Release
TR Technical Revision
Section I - History of the Site
Permit History
Pre-startup activities for a surface mine permit commenced in the summer of 1973, and Open
Mining Permit No. 76-IS was issued on August 31, 1976. This permit was converted to
Development and Extraction Mining Permit No. 76-15 C/A on January 25, 1977. An application
for Permit C-019-81 was submitted on September 13, 1982 and the Permit was issued on
November 4, 1982. It was renewed on August 21, 1987, November 5, 1992, and again on
November 5, 1997. Permit Revision No. 1 was issued on June 4, 1992. There have been 49
Technical Revisions (TR) and 53 Minor Revisions (MR) to the Permit. There have been two
bond releases (SL-O1 of 10/08/87 and SL-02 of 04/27/98) on the Permit.
Mining History
Underground mining in the vicinity of the current permit was started in 1914. Colowyo Coal
Company conducted underground mining operations (Red Wing Mine) from 1945 to 1974.
Surface mining operations began in 1976 and have continued, uninterrupted, to date. Initially a
single seam extraction, the Colowyo Coal Mine began its operations in the East Pit, in a north to
south orientation. Mining was deepened to 8 seams in 1977. An eastern appendage of the larger
East Pit, the Section 11 Pit, was approved in 1991, and has since been absorbed into the East Pit.
West Pit operations, conducted from north to south, were initiated in 1998 and are ongoing.
Section 16 Pit operations, conducted initially from east to west, were initiated in 1998 (the
remaining portion of this pit is being mined north to south). Anticipated production levels started
at 3 million tons per year, increased to 4.5 million tons in 1980, and rose to 40 million tons over
the 1998 - 2002 5-year period (annual production is not expected to exceed 9 million tons in any