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<br />SCp,NNED <br />BEFORE THE <br />COLORADO MINED LAND RECLAMATION BOARD <br />In Re <br />Request for Public Hearing <br />Of EarthJustice, et. al. <br />Permit No. C-1980-0007 <br />Technical Revision No. TR-111 <br />Memorandum of Mountain Coal Company <br />In Opposition to Request for Relief <br />RECEIVED <br />JUL 01 2008 <br />Division or Reclamation, <br />Mining and Safety <br />Pursuant to the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety's ("CDRMS") <br />letter of June 25, 2008, Mountain Coal Company ("MCC") submits this response to the June 20, <br />2008 Request of Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action, et. al., ("Appellants") for a public hearing <br />on the above-referenced permit revision ("Request"). MCC reserves the right to present <br />additional evidence and argument at the hearing in response to the submissions of Appellants, <br />CDRMS, or in response to questions from the Board. <br />BACKGROUND <br />1. The West Elk Mine and the Need for Methane Drainage Wells <br />MCC is the owner and operator of the West Elk Mine in Gunnison County, Colorado, <br />which has been in operation since 1981, under Mine Permit No. C-1980-0007 ("Mine Permit"). <br />The West Elk Mine is an underground coal mine, currently extracting over six million tons per <br />year of coal through longwall mining of the "B Seam" of federal coal resources underlying <br />surface lands in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison ("GMUG") National Forest. The <br />West Elk Mine employs 450 people, mostly residents of Colorado, and contributes $4 million in <br />tax base and over $100 million annually to the Colorado economy, including a $44 million <br />payroll. <br />After nearly 30 years of successful and safe mining, work on the B Seam is nearly <br />complete, and extractable reserves will be exhausted later this year. Starting in October 2008, <br />the West Elk Mine will transition to mining the "E Seam" of federal coal resources, also <br />underlying surface lands in the GMUG National Forest. In anticipation of the need to move to <br />the E Seam, in September 2005 MCC initiated the state and federal permitting process. As part <br />of the comprehensive permitting process, MCC, CDRMS and the U.S. Office of Surface Mining, <br />4842-4129-1266\7