2009-02-09_REVISION - C1981022 (2)

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C-1981-022 RN-05 Findings February 2009 submitted an application for permit renewal, which was received by the Division on March 20, 2008. On March 24, 2008, the Division determined the application to be Complete for purposes of filing, and mailed Completeness letters to various federal, state and local agencies. The public notice announcing the completeness of the permit renewal application was published in the Delta County Independent for four consecutive weeks beginning March 26 and ending April 16, 2008. No comments were received by the Division concerning the renewal. The Applicant Violator System (AVS) was queried for any non-compliance issues relating to OMLLC. On February 9, 2009, the AVS gave an "issue" recommendation. Description of the Environment The surface lands within the permit area include 5,551 acres of privately-owned land and 7,878 acres of federally owned lands (USFS and BLM). The coal reserve owners include Oxbow Mining, LLC, other private entities and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Surface facilities are located in the Elk Creek, Bear Creek, Hubbard Creek and Sanborn Creek drainages on the north side of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Mining areas include workings under the Hubbard, Elk, Bear Creek and Coal Gulch drainages. Proposed workings in the Sanborn Creek East Tract have undermined A, B, C and Hoopla Gulches, Bardine Canyon, Hawk's Nest Creek and an unnamed tributary of Thompson Creek. Hubbard Creek is a perennial tributary of the North Fork and provides both domestic and agricultural supplies of water. Bear Creek, Elk Creek and Sanborn Creek are intermittent streams. Coal Gulch, the unnamed drainage, A, B and C Gulches, Hawk's Nest Creek, Hoopla Gulch, Bardine Canyon and Thompson Creek are all ephemeral drainages that flow to the North Fork. The North Fork River Basin contains a developed water supply providing agricultural water to the fruit-growing region of the North Fork Valley. The North Fork River enters the main stem of the Gunnison River approximately 30 miles southwest of the Somerset Mine. The drainage basin of the North Fork is mountainous, bounded to the west by the Raggeds, the Ruby Range, to the east by the Huntsman Ridge, to the South by the West Elk Mountains, and to the North by Grand Mesa. Elevations in the basin range from 13,058 feet atop Mt. Owen in the Ruby Range, to 5,100 feet at the confluence of the North Fork with the Gunnison River. The town of Somerset, Colorado, immediately adjacent to the Somerset Mine site, is at an elevation of 6,045 feet. Ground reconnaissance during 1978, 1979 and 1980 identified Elk No. 1 Spring as the only location with ground water surfacing within the original Somerset permit area, and this had a flow rate of less than one gallon per minute. It is concluded that there is no large ground water reservoir in the area. Western Slope Carbon identified and monitored 11 springs within or adjacent to the Sanborn East Tract. Monitoring records are available from 1983 through 1987. Somerset Mining Company, now Oxbow Mining, LLC, resumed monitoring these springs in July 1992. Springs 1 through 6 are located along the north boundary of the Sanborn East Tract in the northern portion of Section 2. Springs 7 through 11 are located along the southern boundary of the new tract. The locations of the 6