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The Division received comment letters from the Colorado Division of Water Resources (Denver), the
<br />Colorado Historical Society, USDA-Forest Service (Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison National
<br />Forest), the US Bureau of Land Management, the Delta County Board of Commissioners, the Terror
<br />Ditch and Reservoir Company and the Western Slope Environmental Resource Council. The Division
<br />also received a letter, dated March 20, 2006, from the Office of Surface Mining, in which that agency
<br />determined that the activities proposed in PR-10 did not constitute a mining plan action requiring
<br />Secretarial approval.
<br />The Division worked closely with the Colorado Division of Water Resources Dam Safety Group
<br />(Montrose) in the review of PR-10. There were many adequacy review letters by the Division and
<br />adequacy review responses by the operator during the course of the review. There were several major
<br />issues brought up during the adequacy review, including mining-induced seismicity studies, geotechnical
<br />and seismicity studies of the Bruce Park Dam and adjacent landslide, a seismic monitoring program, pre-
<br />subsidence survey and subsidence monitoring program, Bruce Park Dam monitoring and damage
<br />mitigation program, protection of Dove Cave from subsidence effects, a threshold notification program,
<br />down gradient baseline and point of compliance ground water monitoring and a mine water inflow
<br />monitoring plan under Hubbard Creek.
<br />All of the PR-10 issues were resolved. In a letter dated April 18, 2007, the USDA-Forest Service stated
<br />that BRL adequately addressed all of that agency's concerns and recommended that PR-10 be approved.
<br />Also, in a letter dated August 12, 2008, the Colorado Division of Water Resources Dam Safety Group
<br />(Montrose) found BRL's PR-10 responses to be acceptable. Finally, the Terror Ditch and Reservoir
<br />Company, in a letter dated September 30, 2008, withdrew its opposition to PR-10.
<br />The proposed decision to approve PR-10 was published in the Delta County Independent on November
<br />26 and December 3, 2008 and became final on December 27, 2008.
<br />Due to difficult mining conditions, a new B-seam mine plan change was submitted to the Division on
<br />February 4, 2008 in Permit Revision No. 11 (PR-11). In PR-11, BRL requested an increase in the permit
<br />area to the north by 560 acres through a modification of Federal Coal Lease COC-61209. In addition, the
<br />longwall panels would run north-south, instead of the then-approved east-west trend, and be extended to
<br />the north into the proposed permit area addition. Mining would be closed to the Bruce Park Dam and
<br />Terror Creek Reservoir areas.
<br />Completeness letters were sent out on February 12, 2008 to the appropriate entities. The completeness
<br />public notice was published February 20, 27, March 5 and 12, 2008. Comment letters were received from
<br />the Colorado Division of Water Resources (Denver), the Colorado Historical Society, the Terror Ditch
<br />and Reservoir Company and the USDA-Forest Service.
<br />The USDA-Forest Service consented to the approval of PR-11. The Office of Surface Mining found that
<br />the mine plan change proposed in PR-11 did not constitute a mine plan action requiring Secretarial
<br />approval.
<br />The review of the geotechnical and seismic stability of the Bruce Park Dam and saddle dam and the
<br />adjacent Bruce Park Dam landslide had been conducted under Permit Revision No. 10 but also applied to
<br />the situation in PR-11. In the PR-10 review, the Colorado Division of Water Resources (Montrose) had
<br />been intimately involved and had provided a final comment letter dated August 12, 2008. The Division's
<br />determination that down gradient groundwater baseline and point of compliance monitoring data would
<br />not be required had also been resolved in PR-10 and was applicable to the mine plan proposed in PR-11.
<br />The Division sent out adequacy review letters dated May 12, 2008, December 8, 2008 and December 12,
<br />2008 for PR-11. BRL responded in submittals dated November 25, 2008 and December 9, 2008. All
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