GENERAL52691

• Permit No: C1980006
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 3/16/1989
• Doc Name: PROPOSED DECISION AND FINDINGS OF COMPLIANCE FOR PR
• Permit Index Doc Type: FINDINGS
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Summary
The Review Process
On July 30, 1980, Kerr Coal Company submitted a permit application document to
the Colorado Division of Mined Land Reclamation and the federal Office of
Surface Mining to continue and expand its existing operations at the Marr
Strip Mine site. The application was assessed as complete on August 27, 1980
and a findings document was issued on January 13, 1981 with twelve (12)
stipulations.-The-permit document was issue on March 20 The Division
prepared a mid=-term review on Fe r~uary 28, 1984, an the Kerr response came in
on June 14, 1984.
The permit renewal application came in on September 6, 1985. The Division
responded with an adequacy letter on December 31, 1985. A fjt~di-ag-s-clo ent
with sev n (7L cti ~~lati~ons wa~issued on April 24, 1986. ~.h_e renewal perms
~tx~s s~out on July 22, 1986. On October 2, 1986, specific in logs were
re-wrif en on the-tiond---Kerr Coal Company requested a Formal Hearing on the
findings and accompanying stipulations. The Mined Land Reclamation Board and
Kerr Coal Company ultimately signed a settlement agreement for a bond of
$5,500,000.00 for existing disturbance on February 25, 1987.
Summary
Operations and Reclamation
Kerr Coal opened the Marr Strip in 1974.
of Walden, Colorado, in Jackson County.
the Canadian River on the east side of N
Kerr loadout facility is adjacent to the
Walden. The facility was constructed on
River and encompasses eight (8) acres.
The mine is located eight miles east
The mine lies west and southwest of
~rth Park and covers 1,764 acres. The
Union Pacific railroad south of
fill in the wetlands of the Illinois
The Marr Strip produces coal from the Sudduth seam with a truck and shovel
operation. This coal dips to the east and northeast at a 68° dip. The mine
plan described the extraction of coal from a triangular cut, 265' deep,
bordered on the west and southwest by the coal from four remaining pits. At
this time, Kerr has opened two pits and is moving northward. Production has
averaged 250,000 tons/year, ranging from a high of 750,000 tons of production
in 1980 and a low of 35,000 tons of production in 1988. There is currently
235 acres of disturbance (1987 Annual Reclamation Map).
The coal is trucked to the Kerr Tipple, south of Walden, where it is
stockpiled, crushed, screened and then loaded out. The tipple area is located
on a fill which has placed the tipple area surface at 8,060 feet. the
100-year flood level is at 8/046 feet. A lumber sawmill is located just north
of the tipple area on higher ground. Sawmill junk and plant wastes appear to
have been pushed downslope over the years forming a distinct bluff overlooking
the tipple area. An irrigation ditch physically separates this encroaching
bluff from the main part of the tipple area. A wedge shaped part, 500 foot
long by 25 foot thick (west end), of the permit surface lays north of the
irrigation ditch at the northwest corner of the permit area. Water for dust
suppression activities is acquired from a well with an absolute decree of 8
acre-feet/year.