2010-04-16_REPORT - C1981044 (5)

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river beds of the Yampa and Williams Fork Rivers. The Eagle Mine sites are located in an area, which has been historically mined by surface and underground mining. The earliest records of mining indicate that underground mining began in this area in the late 1920's and early 1930's, while surface strip mining began around 1975. The major mines which have operated in the past are: 1) Wise Hill (1,2,3,4), Williams Fork Strip (1,2,3), and Trapper Strip. The Trapper Strip Mine began operations in 1976 and has continued to date. Underground mining began at the Eagle No. 5 Mine in 1972, under a subsidiary of the Zigler Coal Co. The Cyprus Empire Corporation (CEC), a subsidiary of the Cyprus Coal Company, subsequently acquired the mines from Zigler in 1982, and began operating under an approved Colorado Mine Land Reclamation Board permit in August, 1983. In 1999, CEC was acquired by RAG EC. In April 2004, RAG EC was acquired by Peabody Energy, with the mine owned by Peabody's subsidiary, BTU. Hydrologic monitoring has been conducted at the mine site since 1980, primarily by CEC/RAG EC/BTU EC personnel. A private contractor (Miller Water Monitoring Service) has also been contracted to assist with some of the hydrologic monitoring over the last few years. Water quality samples are currently analyzed by CT&E Laboratories of Denver, Colorado, and ACZ Laboratories, Inc., of Steamboat Springs Colorado, both USEPA certified laboratories. Prior to October 1999, sample analysis was conducted by ACZ Laboratories, Inc., of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The Eagle No. 5 Mine, mining the " F' Coal Seam of the Cretaceous Age Williams Fork Formation, originally utilized room-and-pillar mining methods until 1985, when economics dictated a change to the longwall mining method. The aerial extent of the underground workings in the Eagle No. 5 Mine was approximately 2,040 acres in early 1990, when the No. 5 mine was sealed and mining moved to the Eagle No. 6 Mine. Full production in the Eagle No. 6 Mine began in late 1990, with coal extraction from the underlying "E" Coal Seam of the Williams Fork Formation. Coal mined at the No. 5 and No. 6 Mines was loaded on unit trains at the mine facility area and hauled by rail to market. The 5A portals and a short section of the No. 5 Mine mains were used for access to the Eagle No. 6 Mine. The aerial extent of the underground workings in the Eagle No. 6 Mine (underlying portions of the No. 5 Mine) was approximately 640 acres at in late 1995, when mining ceased. The mines were subsequently in temporary cessation, until BTU EC re-activated water monitoring during the second quarter of 2006, in anticipation of BTU EC considering options for future re- activation of the mine site, and because a bond release application was also being contemplated for the Utah Tract and Williams Fork Strip Pit portions of the mine property. Note that during 2009, no active mining took place at either of the Eagle Mine sites, and total mined acreage has not changed. Page 2 0 G:\Environmental\EMP[RE\AHR\2009\Empire2008AHR.doc