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2.08.5, the Division notified Picketwire Processing on May 28, 1998 of the permittee's need to <br />submit a complete application for permit renewal by September 1, 1998. The permit renewal <br />application was received by the Division on August 29, 2003 from Picketwire. However, the <br />application was found incomplete due to the lack of evidence of current liability insurance and <br />the lack of a copy of the newspaper notice required by Rule 2.08.5(2)(b)(ii). NOV CV-2003- <br />010was issued on September 29, 2003 for failure to maintain a public liability insurance policy <br />in force. On October 10, 2003, Picketwire provided evidence of current insurance and the <br />NOV was abated on October 10, 2003. On November 14, 2003, the Division received a <br />proposed public notice from the applicant and the permit renewal application was called <br />complete. Picketwire Processing published notice of the application for renewal once a week <br />for four weeks beginning on November 25, 2003 as evidenced by the proof of publication <br />received from The Chronicle-News on December 27, 2003. No public comments were <br />received as a result of the public notice. <br />The DMG forwarded adequacy concerns to Picketwire on January 13 and January 15, 2004. <br />The DMG received responses to these adequacy concerns on May 7, 2004 and May 20, 2004. <br />All adequacy concerns were addressed and the DMG checked the Applicant Violator System <br />on May 20, 2004. The system recommendation was "issue". On May 24, 2004, the DMG <br />proposed to approve the application for renewal. <br />The mine site is located in a plateau area. The elevation of the surface facilities ranges from <br />7,400 to 7,800 feet. Land use in the area consists of cropland, rangeland, pastureland, and <br />wildlife habitat. Livestock grazing and hay production on irrigated lands are the main <br />agricultural practice conducted in the general area. A variety of large and small mammals, <br />birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles are permanent or temporary residents of the area. <br />The New Elk Mine is located in the western limb of the Raton Basin. The Raton Basin is a <br />broad, asymmetric syncline whose axis trends north-south. Past mining at the New Elk mine <br />was entirely within the Allen seam, stratigraphically located in the Raton Formation. The <br />Poison Canyon Formation unconformably overlies the Raton Formation. The Poison Canyon <br />Formation has a thickness of approximately 200 feet and occurs only as small, isolated <br />outcrops above an elevation of 8,000 feet. Unconsolidated quaternary alluvial and colluvial <br />deposits overlie the Raton Formation in the low-lying areas. <br />The rock strata dip approximately two degrees to the north-northeast. The permit area <br />contains one steep, normal fault trending east-northeast with vertical displacement less than <br />25 feet. The Allen Seam lies from 450 to 900 feet below the surface. Immediately above the <br />coal are interbedded sandstone and siltstone shales. Interbedded sandstones, shales, and <br />siltstones also underlie the seam. <br />The alluvium of the Middle Fork of the Purgatoire River is a significant aquifer in the permit <br />and adjacent areas. The Purgatoire River originates several miles west of the mine in the <br />Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. It flows into the Arkansas River near Las Animas, <br />Colorado, approximately 120 miles northeast of the mine. <br />5 <br />