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MOUNTAIN COAL COMPANY L.L.C. WEST ELK MINE LONE PINE GULCH FAN FACILITIES RECLAMATION AWARD NOMINATION PACKAGE October 2002 Description• Mountain Coal Company L.L.C. (MCC), West Elk Mine, established ventilation facilities in 1995, approximately one mile west of the Town of Somerset, Colorado, and three miles west of the main mine facilities of the West Elk Mine. The facility was located near Lone Pine Gulch thus, the ventilation facility was named after this tributary of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. The facilities were located in Gunnison County. Permittin~• In order to construct, operate, decommission, and reclaim the facility, 11 Minor Revisions, and 6 Technical Revisions approvals were required from the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (CDMG) for MCC's, West Elk Mine, Mining and Reclamation Permit No. CO-80-007. The permit revisions are listed in Table 1. Construction• The facilities constructed, consisted of a fan bench, two portals, ducting, mine fan, transformer, electrical switchgeaz, and a road associated with the facility. A water pipeline (high-density polyethylene =HDPE) and a 15KV powerline were installed to dewater the mine and supply electrical power to the mine workings respectively. Construction began in 1994, with start-up of the fan occurring May 26, 1995. The HDPE pipeline was constructed in 1997. Special Techniques Employed During Construction: When the powerline and pipeline comdor was approved by the CDMG, MCC employed a special brush crush technique on a very steep slope. The powerline and pipeline corridor needed to be cleazed of the brush to facilitate construction. Because construction was merely placement of powerpoles and the pipeline was laid on-top of the ground with "pillow blocks", there wasn't a need to strip topsoil fmm the corridor on the very steep slope. A dozer was used to cleaz the corridor by keeping the blade approximately 12" above the ground. The dozer operator would "push" the brush to the side of the corridor and cleared the comdor, The brush encountered was oak brush (Quercus gambelii), serviceberry (Amelanchor alnifolia), true mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus), with an understory of grasses and forbs. By utilizing this brush-crush technique, the native vegetation root stock was left in place with the topsoil which allowed revegetation to occur in a faster time frame. Most of the brush in this azea is now approximately four feet high with much greater density and diversity than that of nearby planted azeas where 2