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Decision Memo <br />Mountain Coal Company <br />Geotechnical Boreholes <br />USDA- Forest Service <br />Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison National Forests <br />Paonia Ranger District, Colorado <br />Background <br />Mountain Coal Company (MCC) operates the West Elk Mine, an underground coal mine <br />near the town of Somerset, Gunnison County, CO. MCC mines coal from several <br />federal coal leases, some of which underline the National Forest System (NFS) lands. <br />On August 18, 2005, MCC submitted a proposal for constructing a building a road and <br />pad for a ventilation shaft and emergency escape shaft on NFS lands. On April 6, 2006, <br />MCC modified their proposal to only include construction of the access road and pad, <br />and drilling several geotechnical boreholes to determine the feasibility of a shaft on NFS <br />lands. The purpose of the geotechnical boreholes is to provide the West Elk Mine with <br />engineering data to incorporate into future mine design. If the data MCC collects show <br />that constructing a shaft is appropriate in this location, then additional environmental <br />analysis will be completed addressing the future expansion of the West Elk Mine. <br />Proposed Action <br />The proposed action is to issue MCC a Special Use Permit for the construction and use <br />of an access road and pad, and drill one 4" wntinuous-core geotechnical borehole, and <br />a maximum of 5 geotechnical open-augered holes on NFS lands. The proposed drill <br />holes are located in T. 13 S., R. 90 W., Section 32, 6'h PM (see attached map), and is <br />within federal coal lease COC-1362. The proposal from MCC consists of a number of <br />tasks: <br />• Construction of light use road and pad; <br />• Construction of mud pit on the pad; <br />• Drill one continuous-core borehole to an approximate depth of 400'; <br />Drill a maximum of 5 (4"diameter) geotechnical "open-augered" soil boreholes <br />holes to bedrock (depth will be vaned); <br />• Pertorm interim reclamation on pad and light-use road; <br />• Close access road to public motorized use. <br />Depending on the results of the geotechnical investigation, MCC may propose to <br />construct a ventilation shaft and emergency escape shaft on the site. Once this <br />determination is made, additional environmental analysis will be completed. <br />As part of MCC's initial proposal, two alternative sites were evaluated for the location of <br />the light use road and pad (see attached map). The major differences between these <br />alternative sites are explained in Table 1 below. <br />Table 1 -Comparison of pad location alternatives <br /> <br />Disturbance acres Access Road <br />Len th feet Pad has direct line of <br />si ht from NFSR 711? <br />Lower Pad 1.3 125' Yes <br />U er Pad 1.7 760' No <br />