Laserfiche WebLink
This is the fifth renewal of the permit since it was originally issued. In accordance with Rule <br />2.08.5, the Division notified New Elk Coal Company LLC (NECC) on May 23, 2008 of the <br />permittee's need to submit a complete application for permit renewal by September 1, 2008. <br />The permit renewal application was received by the Division on August 26, 2008 from NECC. <br />On August 28, 2008, the Division called the application complete and notifications of the filing <br />of a complete application for a permit renewal were sent to the applicant, Las Animas County <br />Planning, Las Animas County Commissioners, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Colorado <br />Department of Public Health and the Environment, Colorado Water Quality Control Division, <br />US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Natural Resource Conservation District, and the US Office of <br />Surface Mining. NECC published notice of the application for renewal once a week for four <br />weeks in The Chronicle-News beginning on September 2 and ending September 23, 2008. <br />No public comments were received as a result of the public notice or the agency notification <br />letters. <br />The Division forwarded adequacy concerns to NECC on November 14, 2008. The Division <br />received responses to these adequacy concerns from NECC on November 25, 2008. The <br />Division reviewed the revised and additional materials submitted and forwarded another <br />adequacy letter to NECC on December 23, 2008. The decision deadline was also extended at <br />this time to February 24, 2009. <br />An initial Applicant Violator System check was conducted on September 15, 2008 and <br />returned a status of "no violations". The Division recommendation was issue. <br />All adequacy concerns were addressed and the Division again checked the Applicant Violator <br />System on March 6, 2009. The system recommendation was "issue". On March 6, 2009, <br />2004, the Division proposed to approve the application for renewal. <br />Description of the Environment <br />The mine site is located in a plateau area. The elevation of the surface facilities ranges from <br />7,400 to 7,800 feet. Land use in the area consists of cropland, rangeland, pastureland, and <br />wildlife habitat. Livestock grazing and hay production on irrigated lands are the main <br />agricultural practice conducted in the general area. A variety of large and small mammals, <br />birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles are permanent or temporary residents of the area. <br />The New Elk Mine is located in the western limb of the Raton Basin. The Raton Basin is a <br />broad, asymmetric syncline whose axis trends north-south. Previous mining at this site was <br />entirely within the Allen seam, stratigraphically located in the Raton Formation. The Poison <br />Canyon Formation unconformably overlies the Raton Formation. The Poison Canyon <br />Formation has a thickness of approximately 200 feet and occurs only as small, isolated <br />outcrops above an elevation of 8,000 feet. Unconsolidated quaternary alluvial and colluvial <br />deposits overlie the Raton Formation in the low-lying areas. <br />The rock strata dip approximately two degrees to the north-northeast. The permit area <br />contains one steep, normal fault trending east-northeast with vertical displacement less than <br />25 feet. The Allen Seam lies from 450 to 900 feet below the surface. Immediately above the <br />4