2010-01-20_REVISION - C1981008 ‎(2)‎

• Permit No: C1981008
• IBM Index Class Name: REVISION
• Doc Date: 1/20/2010
• Doc Name: Adequacy Review Memo
• From: Dan Mathews
• To: Marcia Talvitie
• Type & Sequence: PR6
• Email Name: MLT
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

STATE OF COLORADO
DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, MINING AND SAFETY

Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman St., Room 215 C O L O RA D O
Denver, Colorado 80203 D I V IS I ON C F
Phone: [phone] RECLAMATION
FAX: [phone] MINING

SAFETY
DRMS INTERNAL MEMORANDUM Ritter,
Jr.
Gover
nor
Harris D. Sherman
Executive Director
TO: Marcia Talvitie Ronald W. Cattany
FROM: Dan Mathews rNI atural source Trustee
DATE: January 20, 2010
RE: New Horizon Mine (Permit No. C-81-008)
PR-6; Land Use, Soils, Vegetation, Prime Farmland, and Revegetation
Pursuant to your request of December 21, 2009, I have reviewed the Site Description and
Land Use Information, Soils Resource Information, Vegetation Information, Prime
Farmland, Topsoil Salvage and Redistribution, Revegetation, and Postmining Land Use
sections of the PR-6 application. My review comments pertinent to the subject sections
are set forth below. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Rule 2.04.3 General Requirements: Site Description and Land Use Information
The introductory land use discussion in subsection 3.0 of Section 2.04.3 makes
reference to the Irrigated Pasture and Irrigated Swale pre-mine land use categories
depicted on Map 2.04.3, but does not reference or summarize the Pastureland-
Irrigated Hay category. It may be that the term "Irrigated Pasture" as used in
some contexts is meant to be inclusive of both Pastureland-Irrigated Hay and
Pastureland-Irrigated Grass, but this is not entirely clear. There is reference
toward the end of the section to "...two areas of irrigated cropland (25.02
acres)... mapped in 1987 as Cropland (IC) immediately north and west of Pond 7
have been determined to be irrigated pasture (IP) areas instead". In fact, on the
PR-6 version of Map 2.04.3, these two areas (one 9.72 acre parcel and one 15.34
acre parcel) are mapped as Pastureland-Irrigated Hay (IPH).
The justification given for re-classification of the pre-mining land use for the
25.02 acre area northwest of Pond 7 from Cropland (IC) to irrigated pasture
(actually to IPH), in sub-section 3.0 appears to be questionable. The change
appears to have been erroneously based on narrative in sub-section 5.3 of Section
2.04. 10 of the permit application package (PAP), which applied to Burbridge
lands that were originally mapped as irrigated hayland, rather than the fields in
question that were originally mapped as irrigated cropland. In sub-section 5.6 of
Section 2.04. 10 of the PAP, there is reference to two cropland areas in the central
Office of Office of
Mined Land Reclamation Denver Grand Junction Durango Active and Inactive Mines