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3.2 Description of the Environment <br />3.2.1 Maps <br />United States Geological Survey (USGS) Topographic Map 7.5 Minute Quadrangles Axial and <br />Ninemile Gap, Colorado, cover the area of the permit. <br />3.2.2 General, Disturbed and Affected Area <br />The Mine is located approximately 28 miles southwest of Craig, Colorado, near State Highway <br />13. The majority of the permit area and current operations (including the mine pits, the <br />administrative office, shops, warehouses, general offices and a rail loadout facility) are located in <br />1V1V flat %_ 11l?'?. Applyx1111aLeI 1,VVV acres of the SV UEll Tay1Vl Pit, a„t/prvved 111 PR-02151Vcate+d <br />in Rio Blanco County. All of the coal currently mined in the South Taylor Pit, is in Rio Blanco <br />County. <br />Colowyo owns approximately 75% of the surface acreage of the current permit area. An <br />additional 20% is Federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the <br />remaining 5% is State (Colorado) land. The mine operation, as proposed, will consist of several <br />pits operating within approximately 12,250.95 permitted acres of which approximately 5,214.8 <br />acres may be disturbed by mining and approximately 5,214.8 acres may be affected by mining. <br />The permitted boundaries and. permitted disturbance of the permit have not been revised with <br />RN-05. <br />3.2.3 Coal Resources to be Mined <br />Eight major coal seams are mined in the East Pit, West Pit and Section 16 Pit at the Colowyo <br />Mine. These are the "Y", "X," "A", "B", "C", "D", "E" and "F" seams (PAP, page 5). The seams <br />vary in thickness from 2.5 to 15 feet, and overburden thickness varies as a function of structural <br />geology and topography. <br />In the South Taylor Mining area, 17 seam and sub-seam complexes will be mined. The seams <br />are the "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", F" and "G" seams and their seam complexes (for example, the <br />G-Seam is separated into G7, G8 and G9 in the South Taylor Area). The seams vary in thickness <br />from 1.5 feet to 17 feet and the overburden and interburden thickness varies, on average, from 2 <br />feet to 65 feet. Figure 2.04.6-3B in the PAP contains a generalized diagram of the seams to be <br />mined as well as the overburden and interburden. <br />3.2.4 Topography <br />The East Pit, West Pit and Section 16 Pit mining sites lie just west of the northward flowing <br />Goodspring (also referred to as Good Spring) Creek, which is paralleled by Colorado Highway <br />13. The area is a gently sloping upland ranging from about 7,640 feet near the southwest corner <br />Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance 14 September 2009 <br />Permit Renewal 05 Page 19