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Summary <br />The Review Process <br />Mining at the King Coal Mine began azound 1941 and was operated for many yeazs by Viola Smith. <br />The site was permitted by National King Coal Inc. in 1982 and the permit has been renewed every <br />five yeazs since then. National King Coal Inc. reincorporated as National King Coal LLC (NKC), in <br />June, 1995. Permit C-81-035 was most recently renewed on December 16, 2002. <br />The Division received the application for PR-8 on October 11, 2005 and found it complete on <br />October 21, 2005. The Division sent completeness notices in accordance with Rule 2.07.3(3)(b). <br />The Division sent adequacy review comments to NKC on the following dates: December 20, 2005; <br />February 17, 2006; Mazch 13, 2006; and May 31, 2006. NKC resolved all adequacy comments in <br />responses received by the Division on the following dates: February 17, 2006; May 15, 2006; and <br />June 13, 2006. The Division received a letter from the State Historic Preservation Officer on <br />November 4, 2005 stating that PR-8 would not impact cultural resources. No other comments were <br />received. <br />PR-8 proposes to add 720 acres to the permit area for opening new underground workings and <br />associated surface facilities on the north side of La Plata County Road 120 (the King II Mine). Prior <br />to PR-8, the permit azea was confined to lands south of the county road (the King Coal Mine). <br />Descriation of the Environment <br />The King Coal and King II Mines aze located approximately seven miles southwest of Hesperus, <br />Colorado along La Plata County Road 120 in Hay Gulch. The site can be located on the Hay Gulch <br />and Loma Linda 7.5 minute USGS quadrangle maps. <br />Regional Geology <br />The mine permit azea lies on the northern rim of the San Juan Basin. This basin is an asymmetric <br />structural basin in northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado. The outcrop belt that <br />extends around the northern rim of the San Juan Basin exposes rocks of the Mesaverde Group, which <br />overlies the Mancos Shale. The Mesaverde Group is composed of three major units (in ascending <br />order): Point Lookout Sandstone, Menefee Formation, and Cliffhouse Sandstone. <br />Of the two coal seams exposed in the permit azea, only the upper seam of the Menefee formation has <br />been developed at the King Coal Mine and is proposed for development at the King II Mine. <br />Thickness of the upper seam ranges between less than 48 inches to more than 76 inches. The upper <br />seam is overlain by a sequence of interbedded sandstone, shale, carbonaceous shale, and coal, which <br />is overlain by a massive sandstone that is resistant to erosion. The upper seam has 100 to 400 feet <br />overburden throughout much of the permit area. <br />The lower coal seam is well exposed at the neazby Barnwell Mine (an operation that began in the <br />1940s, but has long been abandoned and was never permitted under SMCRA). The <br />