REP34213 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

and early 1930's, while surface strip mining began azound 1975. The major mines which have operated in the • past are: 1) Wise Hill (1,2,3,4), Williams Fork Strip (1,2,3), and Trapper Strip. The Trapper Strip Mine began operations in 1976 and operations have continued since that time. Underground mining began at the Eagle No. 5 Mine in 1972, under a subsidiary of the Zigler Coal Co. The Cypms Empire Corporation (CEC), a subsidiary of the Cyprus Coal Company, subsequently acquired the mines from Zigler in 1982, and began operating under an approved Colorado Mine Land Reclamation Board permit in August, 1983. In 1999, CEC was acquired by (RAGEC). Hydrologic monitoring has been conducted at the mine site since 1980, primarily by CEC or RAGEC personnel. Water quality samples are currently analyzed by CT&E Laboratories of Denver, Colorado, an USEPA certified laboratory. Prior to October 1999, sample analysis was conducted by ACZ Laboratories, Inc., of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, also an USEPA certified laboratory. The Eagle No. 5 Mine, mining the "F" Coal Seam of the Cretaceous Age Williams Fork Fonnation, originally utilized room-and-pillar mining methods until 1985, when economics dictated a change to the longwall mining method. The aerial extent of the underground workings in the Eagle No. 5 Mine was approximately 2,040 acres in early 1990, when the No. 5 mine was sealed and mining moved to the Eagle No. 6 Mine. Full production in the Eagle No. 6 Mine began in late 1990, with coal extraction from the underlying "E" Coal Seam of the Williams Fork Formation. Coal mined at the No. 5 and No. 6 Mines was loaded on unit trains at the mine facility area and hauled by rail to market. The SA portals and a short section • of the No. 5 Mine mains were used for access to the Eagle No. 6 Mine. The aerial extent of [he underground workings in the Eagle No. 6 Mine (underlying portions of the No. 5 Mine) was approximately 640 acres at in late 1995, when mining ceased. The mines have been in temporary cessation ever since, therefore, during 2001, no active mining took place at either of the Eagle Mine sites, and total acreage has not changed. 3.0 2001 HYDROLOGIC MONITORING PROGRAM The RAGEC hydrologic monitoring program includes data collected specifically to meet requirements of the DMG, as well as data collected to meet the requirements of the Colomdo Wastewater Discharge Permit System (CDPS). Note that "CDPS" parameters were formerly referred to as National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) parameters in prior AHRs. Specific monitoring locations are shown on Figure 2. Monitoring requirements through June 2001 are summarized in Table 1. In late June 2001, Technical Revision TR01-32 was approved. TR 01-32 allows for cessation of DMG hydrologic monitoring requirements while the mine is in temporary cessation. RAGEC will continue to be responsible for adhering to the monitoring requirements of its discharge permit. Thus, this AHR only addresses the data collected in 2001 prior to approval of TR 01-32 and the dischazge data as required under CDPS permit CO-0034142. After 2001, assuming the mine is still in temporary cessation, the AHR will only report discharge data required by the CDPHE permit, as well as periodic monitoring of sites WF-1, WF-2, AVF-5, No. 5 Mine sump, and well TR-7A. Table lA (from TROT-32, Appendix D - TC monitoring plan) presents the current TC plan sites, parameters, and monitoring frequencies. Water quality monitoring includes field parameters (Table 2), water quality parameters (Table 3), and CDPS pazameters (Table 4). 2 I:\Env\Empi re\gHR\2001 \Text\Em pire2001 AHR.doc