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COAL <br />OUNTAINCOMPANY L.L.C. <br />V <br />A Subsidiary of Arch western Resources, LLC <br />January 15, 2009 <br />Ms. Kelly Morgan <br />Colorado Department of Public Health <br />& Environment <br />Water Quality Control Division <br />WQCD-P-B2 <br />4300 Cherry Creek Drive South <br />Denver, Colorado 80246-1530 <br />,ECEIVE® <br />JAN 2 0 2009 <br />Division otad Sa ety n, <br />Mining <br />West Elk Mine <br />P O Box 591 <br />5174 Highway 133 <br />Somerset, CO 81434 <br />(970) 929-5015 <br />Fax (970) 929-5595 <br />Re: Mountain Coal Company, LLC, West Elk Mine, CDPS Permit No. CO-0038776 <br />Discharge Monitoring Report for the 4ffi Quarter, 2008. <br />Dear Ms. Morgan: <br />Attached please find the Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) for the Mountain Coal Company (MCC) <br />West Elk Mine for the 4 h Quarter of 2008. During the 4 h quarter there were 4 exceedances at Outfall 007. <br />A summary of exceedances is provided below. <br />1. Exceedance of Total Suspended Solids 30 DAY AVG at Outfall 007. <br />a. Outfall 007A is an internal domestic wastewater discharge point that flows <br />into a large lined pond that discharges through Outfall 004. One sample <br />was taken in November as required by the permit. <br />b._ The exceedance occurred on November 4, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. The total <br />suspended solids (TSS) measured in the discharge was 33 mg/1, which exceeds <br />the 30 day average limit of 30 mg/1. Approximately 1,150 gallons of water were <br />discharged that day, well below the daily average of 11,000 gal. The day <br />previous and the day following had little to no flow. A sample collected on <br />December 4, 2008 yielded a TSS result of 7 mg/1, well below the permit limit. <br />The flows at Outfall 004 did not exceed the TSS limits during the quarter. <br />.c. MCC met with you and Mr. Andrew Neuhart on September 11, 2008 to discuss <br />the TSS limit on Outfall 007. During that meeting it was discussed that the <br />Permit seemed to have incorporated the lower numeric limitations for industrial <br />wastewater of 30 mg/1 for a 30-day average. The wastewater treatment system at <br />007 more accurately falls into the classification of an aerated waste stabilization <br />pond for domestic wastewater and therefore should be subject to the domestic <br />limit of 75 mg/1 for a 30 day average. If the more appropriate limit for domestic <br />wastewater treatment was in effect at the time of this discharge, there would not <br />have been an exceedance. MCC formally requested that the TSS limit in the