GENERAL43258

• Permit No: C1980005
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 11/10/1992
• Doc Name: PROPOSED DECISION AND FINDINGS OF COMPLIANCE FOR RN2
• Permit Index Doc Type: FINDINGS
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Summary
The Review Process
On May 24 and 28, 1991, the Division notified Peabody Coal Company that its
permit for the Seneca II Mine would expire February l7, 1992. On
August 14, 1991, the Division received an application for renewal of a valid,
existing permit from Peabody Coal Company for the Seneca II Mine. Since a
complete application for renewal was received 180 days prior to expiration of
the previous permit, Peabody Coal Company is assured of the right to continue
mining under that permit during the review of the renewal application. The
application was deemed complete and appropriate agencies notified of the
application on August 23, 1991. Peabody Coal Company published public notice
of its application for permit renewal in the Steamboat Pilot during four
consecutive weeks, beginning January 2, 1992. No comments regarding this
permit renewal were received by the Division.
Requests for compliance status information were sent to all other states in
which Peabody operates, as well as to the Colorado Department of Health.
Letters were sent to those agencies on August 23, 1991, and again on
March 31, 1992. No compliance problems were reported. The Applicant Violator
System (AVS) was queried on August 23, 1991. The system recommended a
"conditional issue" for the permit renewal. The system was queried again on
March 04, 1992, resulting in a recommendation to deny the permit renewal
because of delinquent Abandoned Mined Land (AML) fees at Peabody operations.
On March 05, 1992, the Office of Surface Mining issued a recommendation to
renew the permit. A final AVS query on October 29, 1992, resulted in a
recommendation to issue a renewed permit.
On February 10, 1992, the Division requested updated ownership, control, and
compliance information from Peabody Coal Company. The requested information
was received by the Division on February 20, 1992. On July 27, 1992, the
Division forwarded questions resulting from a preliminary adequacy review of
the renewal application. Additional adequacy concerns were transmitted to
Peabody Coal Company on July 31, August 26, and September 9, 1992. Peabody
Coal Company will be required to resolve these issues for the Division within
thirty (30) days of the proposed decision to renew the permit.
Description of the Environment
The Seneca II Mine is located in northwest Colorado, approximately nine miles
southeast of Hayden. Elevations at the mine site range from 6,600 feet to
8,100 feet above mean sea level. Annual precipitation in the area of the mine
site is 16.11 inches. The average temperature in January is 17.1°F; and is
65.9°F in July.
The Seneca II Mine is located on the Tow Creek anticline, a local structure
within the regional Sand Wash structural basin. The local stratigraphic
sequence, in ascending order, is the Mancos Shale; the Mesaverde group, which
may be subdivided into the Iles and Williams Fork Formations; the Lewis Shale;
and the Lance Formation, all of which are upper Cretaceous in age. Overlying
the Lance Formation are the Tertiary Fort Union and Wasatch Formations.
Quaternary alluvial deposits, generally derived from the Mesaverde Group, are
locally present in stream valleys. Recent colluvial slides and slumps may
also be present in canyons and gulches throughout the area.
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