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April 22, 1980. During the latter part of June, the Division received OSM's
<br /> Apparent Completeness Review of the application, which was subsequently
<br /> incorporated into the July rff.RD Preliminary Adequacy Review Letter and then
<br /> forwarded to the company. On January 13, 1981, a meeting was held between OSM
<br /> and MLRD to assess the adequacy of MCC's responses, and it was at this point
<br /> in time that the responses were found to be substantially inadequate in a
<br /> variety of aspects. This resulted in a decision to prepare a second, joint
<br /> adequacy letter which was sent to the company on February 6, 1981.
<br /> On January 30, 1981 the Division received additional comments from the
<br /> Division of Water Resources which outlined the deficiencies in the application
<br /> with regard to water rights and, in particular, with the deficiencies of the
<br /> proposed Minnesota Creek Basin Augmentation Plan. Additional comments on
<br /> water rights issues were submitted in February and March in the form of
<br /> objection letters from several concerned citizens. These letters also
<br /> discussed problems relating to alluvial valley floors, protection for
<br /> perennial streams, the potential for landslides to be triggered by subsidence,
<br /> cumulative hydrologic impacts, the adequacy of MCC's subsidence monitoring and
<br /> subsidence control plans, and a number of procedural issues. These! objections
<br /> resulted in several requests: for a mine site visit and informal conference,
<br /> which were held on April 30, 1981 and May 12, 1981, respectively. The
<br /> Division began preparation of its written findings soon after the conference
<br /> and published its proposed decision on June 22, 1981. The Division's decision
<br /> was to approve the West Elk permit application with several stipulations.
<br /> The five-year permit was issued on July 31, 1981, pursuant to the Colorado
<br /> Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act, CRS 34-33-101 et sec . Construction of
<br /> the West Elk Mine began in 1981. The mine began producing coal from the F
<br /> seam in January 1982 . The expiration of this permit was set at July 31, 1986.
<br /> .On January 17, 1986, a complete renewal application was received. This
<br /> application was subsequently reviewed and the Division issued a proposed
<br /> decision to approve the renewal application with stipulations. Following the
<br /> public comment period, the permit was renewed on May 19, 1987. The permit was
<br /> to expire on August 1, 1991 . The Division received MCC's complete renewal
<br /> application on January 30, 1991 thereby serving the operator's right to
<br /> successive renewal pursuant to 2.08.5 (3) )f) . The Division issued a proposed
<br /> decision to approve the renewal application with stipulations, and following
<br /> the public comment period, the permit was renewed on January 29, 1993, and
<br /> will expire on August 1, 1996.
<br /> The Division received an application for a permit revision on February 4, 1994
<br /> and was subsequently deemed complete on February 14, 1994. The Division
<br /> issued the first preliminary adequacy review letter on April 15, 1994, which
<br /> identified deficiencies in Geology, Hydrology, and Subsidence. MCC's
<br /> responses to the preliminary review were received via facsimile on June 3,
<br /> 1994. The proposed decision date was extended by MCC from June 14, 1994, to
<br /> July 8, 1994. A second adequacy review letter was sent to MCC on July 5,
<br /> 1994. MCC requested another extension to the decision date to July 22, 1994 .
<br /> A meeting between the Division and MCC to assist them in responding adequately
<br /> to the Division' s questions was held on July 14, 1994 . MCC requested another
<br /> extension for the proposed decision to August 26, 1994, and subsequently to
<br /> September 16, 1994, then September 23, 1994, October 7, 1994, and finally to
<br /> October 21, 1994. Additional review materials were received September 30,
<br /> October 7, 14, and 20, 1994. A meeting was also held on October 7, 1994 . The
<br /> proposed decision to approve the revision was issued on October 21, 1994 .
<br /> Operations at the WEM have been conducted under several different names in the
<br /> past. Before 1991, the WEM itself was known as the Mt. Gunnison No. 1 Mine.
<br /> Since the mine opened, operations were conducted under the following names:
<br /> Anaconda Minerals Company, ARCO Coal Company (a Division of Atlantic Richfield
<br /> Company) , and West Elk Coal Company, Inc. The most recent name change from
<br /> West Elk Coal Company, Inc. , Mt. Gunnison No. 1 Mine, to Mountain Coal
<br /> Company, West Elk Mine, was processed by the Division as a Succession of
<br /> Operator. Both companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Atlantic
<br /> Richfield Company. The Division issued a proposed decision to approve the
<br /> name change pursuant to Rule 2 .08 .6 (4) on December 20, 1991 . The decision was
<br /> final following the public comment period, on January 20, 1992.
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