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NEW ELK COAL COMPANY LLC <br />122 WEST FIRST STREET <br />TRINIDAD, CO 81082 <br />(719) 845-0090 <br />NEW ELK MINE <br />July 6, 2010 "CEI ED <br />Mr. Kent Gorham JUL u y? v <br />Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety Division of Keciamation, <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 A ng and Safety <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />RE: Jansen yard permitting <br />New Elk Mine Permit C-81-012 <br />Dear Mr. Gorham: <br />With this letter New Elk Coal Company (NECC) is requesting clarification of the permit <br />requirements for support facilties (4.04) at or near the mine site. Specifically, the clarification is <br />sought for the operation of the rail yard at Jansen. NECC is in the process of contracting with a <br />trucking firm for the haulage of coal from the mine site to a rail loadout facility where it will be <br />stockpiled and loaded onto trains for delivery outside the state of Colorado. The loadout facility <br />will be operated independently either by the trucking firm or others. It is not anticipated that <br />NECC will operate the facility. The trucking and loadout operator have not been selected at this <br />time. <br />There are currently no rail loadout facilities available at the New Elk Mine site. The 30 miles of <br />track running from the mine to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) main line has been <br />removed, except for a little over 2 miles at the BNSF end of that route. The BNSF Southwest <br />District operates a double track mainline through Trinidad, with a large yard in downtown <br />Trinidad. The BNSF double mainline runs south from Trinidad toward Raton, NM, passing to <br />the east of the Trinidad Reservoir. There is an existing siding known as Jansen just east of the <br />Trinidad Reservoir off of State Highway 12. The Jansen yard is owned by Kern Valley Railroad. <br />This is the site that the independent contractor will stockpile coal and load into railcars <br />temporarily (2 years) while the rail is re-established to the mine site. <br />Inquiry to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control <br />Division resulted in a determination that the site is not considered as a mining operation but <br />instead falls under a general construction permit. Inquiry to the Water Quality Control Division <br />water indicated that the site does not require a discharge permit in part because there is no <br />processing occurring on the site. The site also was determined not to require a stormwater