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SECTION 1 - MINE STATUS AND HISTORY <br />The Seneca II-W Mine is located approximately 7 miles south of Hayden, Colorado in Routt County. The <br />initial mining and reclamation permit for the mine was issued December 31, 1985, for a 5 year permit term. <br />The permit has been renewed for additional 5 year permit terms three times. The most recent permit <br />renewal proposed decision was issued July 3, 2006, and the Division's basis for the renewal approval is set <br />forth in the Permit Renewal No. 4 (RN-4) Findings of Compliance document, dated July 3, 2006. The current <br />permit term expires December 31, 2010. <br />The Seneca II-W Mine is a largely reclaimed surface coal operation, more specifically a dip-slope area strip <br />mine, which utilized dragline mining methods during active operations. The total permitted area, including the <br />Tie-Across Haul Road that connects Routt County Road 53 with the Hayden Power Plant, is approximately <br />4,093 acres. The maximum proposed disturbed area is 1,381.5 acres, including mine pit areas, surface <br />support facilities, haul roads and drainage control facilities. 1,284.9 acres of the total disturbance is within the <br />"mine area"; the remaining 96.6 acres of disturbance is associated with the Tie-Across Haul Road corridor. <br />Surface ownership is predominantly private, with right of entry based on a variety of private leases, subleases <br />and easements. The permit area also includes limited areas of federal surface managed by BLM, and the <br />State of Colorado. Coal mined at Seneca II-W was owned by private interest, the State of Colorado, and the <br />Federal government, under lease to Seneca Coal Company. <br />Coal extraction began at Seneca II-W in 1990, and ceased in January 2006, due to a combination of difficult <br />mining conditions and economic factors. Reclamation operations and maintenance activities are continuing. <br />Over the life of the mine, over 12 million tons of coal was produced. Annual production ranged from a low of <br />376,700 tons to a maximum of 990,300 tons. No further coal production is planned or approved. <br />Reclamation grading, topsoiling, and seeding of mine pit areas was completed in 2007. Reclamation of <br />certain roads and stockpile sites in the mine area is underway, while various long term facilities that will <br />continue to be used during the liability period (certain road segments, the shop facility, and sedimentation <br />ponds) will be reclaimed in future years or will be retained as permanent features (upon approval by the <br />Division). <br />3