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<br />DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, MINING AND SAFETY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866-3567 <br />FAX: (303) 832-8106 <br />May 18, 2010 <br />Mr. Lance Wade <br />Mine Manager <br />Western Fuels -Colorado <br />P.O. Box 628 <br />Nucla, CO 81424 <br />Re: Citizen Complaints - Office of Surface Mining Investigation - Permit revision No. 6 <br />New Horizon Mine - Permit No. C-1981-008 <br />Mr. Wade: <br />COLORADO <br />D IV IS I ON OF <br />RECLAMATION <br />MINING <br />SAFETY <br />Bill Ritter, Jr. <br />Governor <br />James B. Martin <br />Executive Director <br />Loretta E. Pineda <br />Director <br />The Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety (DRMS) is currently investigating the permitting history <br />and pending compliance -related matters associated with prime farmland requirements, reclamation <br />standards and post mining land use designations for the Western Fuels - Colorado (WFC) New Horizon <br />Mine. Various issues dating back to 1999 are addressed, in part, with the Permit Renewal Number 5 <br />(RN05) and Permit Revision Number 6 (PR06) and these issues remain unresolved. These issues are also <br />the subject of ongoing and valid complaints documented by the Morgan Property landowner <br />representative (Ms. JoEllen Turner) and are the subject of an ongoing oversight and compliance <br />investigation by the Office of Surface Mining (OSM). We enclose the documents received thus far from <br />Ms. Turner and OSM. <br />These matters involve prerequisite requirements for the Permit Number C-1981-008, and resolution <br />must occur expeditiously. Our initial response to the OSM Ten Day Notice (TDN) Number X10-140-182- <br />003 (dated April 23, 2010) indicated the DRMS position that the WFC New Horizon Mine is not in <br />violation of the Permit Number C-1981-008 because ground operations are being conducted in <br />compliance with the permit. The DRMS response referenced previous permitting actions. Further DRMS <br />review of the written record associated with the New Horizon Mine permit indicates serious defects in <br />the permit and may cause DRMS to reassess this position. <br />Please be advised that ongoing delays in resolving the outstanding issues may jeopardize mine <br />compliance, and consequently, ongoing operations. DRMS may be required to pursue enforcement <br />procedures if the permitting defects have resulted in performance standard -related noncompliance <br />and/or if the pending permitting matters are not resolved by the below deadline for PR06. The current <br />decision deadline for PR06 is June 17, 2010. DRMS previously requested the submittal of all materials <br />required for PR06 by April 19, 2010. The required submittal has not yet occurred. All materials required <br />to address the pending compliance matters addressed with PR06 must be provided to DRMS no later <br />than May 25, 2010 to allow time for review of the materials. <br />It is now clear that inaccurate and outdated soils information was submitted with Permit Revision <br />Number 5 (PROS). This resulted in a negative determination regarding the presence of prime farmland <br />soils on the Morgan property, although PR05 did require comprehensive soil salvage practices. These <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />Office of Office of <br />Mined Land Reclamation Denver • Grand Junction • Durango Active and Inactive Mines