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0 EARTHJUSTICE <br />Because the earth needs a good lawyer <br />April 7, 2009 <br />ALASKA CALIFORNIA FLORIDA MID-PACIFIC NORTHEAST NORTHERN ROCKIES <br />NORTHWEST ROCKY MOUNTAIN WASHINGTON, DC INTERNATIONAL <br />Mr. Ron Cattany, Director RECE11 1/ED <br />Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining & Safety <br />1313 Sherman, Room 215 APR 0 8 2009 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Ron.Cattany@state.co.us 1 sadSd* <br />Re: CAM-Colorado Permit Application for Coal Mining C2008086 Is Incomplete <br />Dear Mr. Cattany: <br />On April 23, 2008, CAM-Colorado LLC, on behalf of its parent corporation Rhino Energy LLC, <br />submitted an application to DRMS to mine coal on 6,300 acres of federal public land north of <br />Fruita, Colorado. See Application Form for a Permit to Conduct Coal Mining (rec'd April 23, <br />2008). The permit will enable CAM-Colorado to construct and operate the Red Cliff Mine. Id. <br />at 1. On July 3, 2008, DRMS concluded that the permit application, C2008086, was complete. <br />Because new information appears to show that CAM-Colorado's permit application is not <br />complete, DRMS must reverse its finding that the application is complete and require CAM- <br />Colorado to provide additional information to the agency. That recent information indicates that <br />CAM-Colorado will likely be required to drill numerous methane degasification wells (MDWs), <br />each having surface and other impacts, to safely mine coal. Unless and until CAM-Colorado <br />provides additional information concerning the MDWs, DRMS cannot approve the company's <br />permit application. <br />1. CAM-Colorado Will Likely Require Methane Degasification Wells' to Mine Coal <br />Under Its Permit. <br />In January 2009, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a draft environmental impact <br />statement (DEIS) on CAM-Colorado's proposal to construct the Red Cliff Mille, largely on BLM <br />land.' The DEIS states that mining cannot take place at the Red Cliff Mine without the removal <br />of methane, an explosive gas. Methane "must be removed from the mine to insure worker <br />safety." DEIS at 2-20. BLM states that methane will be removed through the mine's ventilation <br />system, but also by drilling vertical wells from the surface which will vent methane into the <br />atmosphere: <br />The Proposed Action is to vent methane using a ventilation fan and 2 to 3 <br />methane wells per longwall panel.... One methane well will be installed near <br />each end of the longwall panel and one will be installed near the center of the <br />longwall panel. Longer panels may require additional methane wells. <br />The DEIS is available at http://www.blm.gov/rmp/co/redcliffmine/documents.htm. <br />1400 GLENARM PLACE, SUITE 300 DENVER, CO 80202-5050 <br />T: 303.623.9466 F: 303.623.8083 E: eajusco@earthjustice.org W: www.earthjustice.org