Laserfiche WebLink
IN'T'RODUCTION <br />This document is the approval package proposed by the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology <br />(Division) for [he complete Phase 1, II and ]II release of the reclamation liability and reclamation bond <br />for the Burlington Northern Railroad I.oadout permitted under the Raton Creek Mine, Permit <br />No. C-82-O55. This package contains three parts. These include: I) a summary of the review process <br />history; 2) written findings of the Division regarding compliance with the requirements of the Colorado <br />Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act 34-33-101 et. seq., C.R.S. 1973 as amended, and the regulations <br />promulgated thereunder; and 3) the final proposed decisions to approve the request for Phase I, II and <br />III bond release. <br />Detailed information about the review process can be found in the Act and the Regulations of the <br />Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining. All rules referenced within this document <br />are contained within the Regulations. Detailed information about the mining and reclamation operation <br />can be found in the permit application on fde at the Division, 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215, Denver, <br />Colorado 80203, and at the Ias Animas County Courthouse in Trinidad, Colorado. <br />SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW PROCESS <br />P~ergy Fuels Mining Company, the operator and permittee of Ure Raton Creek Mine, applied for <br />- Phase I, II and TII bond release for the Burlington Northern .Railroad I.oadout .under the <br />Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act. -- A-request for Phase I, II and III bond release <br />represents a release of 100 percent of the rechrmation liability bond. The current bond amount held for <br />the Burlington Northern Railroad I.oadout is $7,807.00. <br />The Burlington Northern Railroad loadout is a three-acre tract of land located within the city limits of <br />Trinidad, Colorado. The loadout lies north of Goddard Avenue and approximately 0.25 miles east of <br />Interstate Highway 25 in the NW'/. of We SE'k and in the NE'b of the SW'b of Section 7, Town- <br />ship 33 South, Range 63 Vest of the 6th P.M., in Ias Animas County, Colorado. The loadout site may <br />be located on the U.S. Geological Survey 7.5 minute quadrangle map titled "Trinidad East." <br />The application for Phase I, II and III bond release of the Burlington Northern Railroad I.oadout was <br />received by the Division on August 31, 1993. The application was deemed complete on November 2, <br />1993, following receipt of the proof of publication of the public notice and proof of the written notices <br />specified in Rule 3.03.2(1). On November 9, 1993, the City of Trinidad informed the Division of the <br />City's desire to utilize the land where the loadout existed for disposal of sludge generated from a <br />nearby municipal wastewater treatment facility. In a letter to the Division dated November 12, 1993, <br />the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) informed the Division of a stockpile of topsoil <br />situated on the site that had been removed from the proposed route of the Trinidad Bypass State <br />Highway 160 construction project. The letter also stated that the topsoil stockpile was placed by CDOT <br />in the loadout in 1988, and that CDOT was planning on utilizing the material in late 1994. The <br />Division scheduled a bond release inspection for November 11, 1993. At the request of the City of <br />-1- <br />