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1.0 IN'T'RODUCTION <br />Mountain Coal Company, operator of the West Elk Mine (WEM) located <br />near Somerset, Colorado revised its Permit No. C-80-007, issued by the <br />Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board (CMLRB) in October 1984 to include <br />a permanent refuse disposal area known as the Upper Refuse Pile (URP). This <br />document references and revises the October 1984 permit revision to <br />accommodate changes specified in the June 30, 1991 issue of the Regulations <br />of the CMLRB for Coal Mining, by the State of Colorado Department of <br />Natural Resources Mined Land Reclamation Division. In addition, revised <br />geotechnical parameters for the coal refuse and the underlying colluvium have <br />been used to modify the final coal refuse buildout design and to perform the <br />slope stability analysis. <br />The URP is located in a portion of Section 10, Township 13 South, Range <br />90 West of the 6th P.M., within coordinates 1,444,280 to 1,446,560 east and <br />401,080 to 403,140 north on land owned by Atlantic Richfield Company. Total <br />disturbance area for the repository is approximately 58 acres, occurring on a <br />topographic bench located immediately above the WENT main portals. Figure <br />1.0 shows the final developed plan contour of the URP. The pile will reach a <br />final elevation at 7,020 feet and have a maximum height of 235 feet. The <br />design capacity is approximately 7.9 million cubic yards, which is equivalent <br />to 8.7 million tons of refuse based upon a compacted density of 85 pcf. <br />Design and construction plans for the URP have been developed to <br />prevent combustion, insure stability, protect against adverse impacts on water <br />quality, water flow, and vegetation, and not create a public health hazard. The <br />URP will be used for the life of the mine; final reclamation plans include <br />removal of the haul road and appurtenant structures, and returning the area <br />for use as rangeland. <br />1 <br />