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iii iuiininiuiii 999 -~ Lli~oming Fuei Compon~ Golden Eagle /New Elk Mines 10250 Highway 12 • Weston, Coloroco 81091 • telephone (719) 868-2761 May 17, 1989 Mr. Fred R. Banta, Director ~ ,~ ~~- •. ^ ~--° ~' ''• °- •- Department of Natural Resources Mined Land keclamati on Division ~~~-, r' 1 i ~~=j 215 Centennial Building 1313 Sherman Street ••' `r r' ='•"-' Denver, Colorado 80203-2273 Re: Determination of Pattern of Violations for the Golden Eagle Mine, Permit No. C-81-013 Dear Mr. Banta: We have received your April 17, 1989 letter in which the Mined Land Reclamation Division found that a pattern of violations exists for Wyoming Fuel Company's ("WFC") Golden Eagle Mine. Xou asked WFC to provide a response to this letter and the issues raised during our April 28, 1989 meeting so that you may determine whether a show cause order should be issued. Before we discuss the recent management and operational chances which will ensure compliance with the Act, its Rules, and our permit, you should understand that WFC is quite aware of the seriousness of the concerns expressed in your letter and of the Cessation Orders and Notices of Violation ("NOV") WFC received in early 1988. We sincerely regret that these incidents occu=red. We hope that as a result of our recent changes, future compliance issues can be avoided. It is not in the public in~erest for these types of incidents to happen, and it certainly is not within WFC's corporate philosophy to permit such occurrences. We believe than since the issuance of the Cessation Orders and the NOV early in 1988, WFC has made considerable improvement in its compliance performance. Prior to this year, mine operations were impeded by a cumbersome corporate structure which did not lend itself to effective management of permitting and compliance activities. Specifically, the environmental engineering and permitting activities were being handled from the Lakewood, Colorado office. Given the dis~ance from Lakewood Lo the mine site, there admittedly were communicateion problems regarding the requirements of the Act, the Rules, and the permit provisions. Additionally, the mining operation was ineffectively structured to ensure timely response to hydrologic and other environmental areas of concern. These areas of concern were fully aadressed in early 1989, when Mr. Charles T4. Battey became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of WFC. Under Mr. Battey's direction WFC has been restructured at both the Lakewood corporate and the Weston mine opera=..ions levels