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Summary <br />The Review Process <br />The Carbon Junction Mine was previously operated by Pueblo Coal, Incorporated, from its original <br />permitting date of October 25, 1983 until the company became insolvent. The permit was revoked and <br />bond forfeited on July 25, 1990. Due to the failure and closing of the Texas American Bank/Fort Worth, <br />Texas, the Division was unable to collect the monies required for the reclamation of the site. <br />During the legal process to obtain the reclamation bond of $931,150.00, the parent corporation of Pueblo <br />Coal, Oakridge Energy, Inc., entered into an arrangement with the State of Colorado to replace the bond, <br />and re-permit the Carbon Junction Mine under an entirely new permit. With a new bond fully in place, <br />Oakridge Energy Inc. submitted an application to mine coal on July 30, 1992. The application was <br />assigned file number C-92-080 by the Division for the new Carbon Junction Mine, and the permit was <br />approved on June 25, 1993. <br />On January 28, 1998, the Division received an application (RN-01) to renew the permit for an additional <br />5-year term. The Division found the application complete on February 9, 1998. The operator published <br />the renewal request in The Durango Herald. No comments from the public or private sectors were <br />received concerning the permit renewal. All permitting issues were resolved with the exception of bond <br />release issues regarding vegetation sampling brought about by the land use change to industrial, <br />commercial, and residential. The stipulation was resolved with the submittal of Technical Revision 11 <br />(TR- 11). <br />On March 11, 2003 the Division received an application (RN-02) to renew the permit for an additional 5- <br />year term. The Division found the application complete on March 13, 2003. Proof of publication was <br />received on May 15, 2003 with publication dates from March 19 through April 9, 2003. The Division <br />issued a proposed decision to approve the renewal application on May 29, 2003. <br />The Division notified the operator by letter on November 14, 2007 that, in accordance with 2.08.5, the <br />right of successive permit renewal could be secured by filing a complete renewal application by February <br />2, 2008. The Division received the operator's application to renew the permit for an additional 5-year <br />term on February 4, 2008 (RN-03) and found the application complete on that day. The Division <br />reviewed renewal application RN-03 and sent an adequacy review letter to the operator's consultant on <br />April 11, 2008. The letter requested the removal of certain changes to wording in the reclamation plan <br />that was proposed in their submittal. The Division received a response letter on July 2, 2008 which <br />removed the proposed changes. The Division provided the operator a copy of the updated reclamation <br />cost estimate on August 7, 2008. The only comment received during the review was a letter received on <br />February 25, 2008 from the State Historic Preservation Officer saying that the permit renewal will have <br />no effect on historic properties. <br />Description of the Environment <br />The Carbon Junction Mine is located in southwestern Colorado, approximately 2 1/2 miles southeast of <br />the town of Durango. Elevation of the area ranges from approximately 6800 feet to 7400 feet. <br />The mine is located in the upper drainage basin of Carbon Junction Canyon. This ephemeral tributary to <br />the Animas River has a drainage area of 0.8 square miles. This stream channel has a steep gradient and is <br />in a steep-walled valley along much of its length.