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VII. Disposal of Excess Spoil - Rule 4.09 <br />Disposal of excess spoil will not occur at the Bowie No. 1 Mine. <br />VIII. Coal Mine Waste Banks - Rule 4.10 <br />The Bowie No. I Mine has two coal waste disposal sites. The first disposal site, named the old <br />waste disposal area, is situated just northwest of Pond 2 and was begun in September of 1978. <br />Placement of coal waste continued until the disposal site reached full capacity. The disposal site <br />was reclaimed in August of 1983. In 1985, a spontaneous combustion event took place at the old <br />waste disposal area. Final resolution of the issue occurred when the problem coal waste was <br />excavated from the disposal site, allowed to cool, and placed at the second waste disposal site, <br />named the West Ridge waste disposal site. <br />The applicant, in response to Stipulation No. 16 of its original Permit No. C-038-81, obtained <br />approval for an underground development waste pile (West Ridge waste disposal site) at the <br />Bowie No. 1 Mine. Designs and text regarding the waste pile can be found in the approved <br />permit application, Volume 1A, Section 2.05.3(9), and Volume 6A. <br />Briefly, the plan consisted of three phases. Phase I consisted of a waste pile that had been <br />constructed on the "West Ridge" site, immediately adjoining the southwestern toe of the lowest <br />existing fill bench at the Bowie No. 1 Mine surface facilities. This terraced pile accommodated <br />130,000 cubic yards of waste. In January 1988, 64,417 tons of waste had been disposed of at <br />the West Ridge site. Approximately 25,000 tons were added to the pile in 1987, due to <br />development in the West Mine area. <br />Phase II consisted of an analogous, but smaller, waste pile to be constructed on the "East Ridge" <br />site, immediately east of the Phase I pile. Phase II, never initiated, would have contained 60,500 <br />cubic yards of waste and would have required approximately four (4) years to construct. Phases <br />I and II are separated by a natural ephemeral drainage channel. <br />Phase III of the proposed waste pile plan consisted of a plan to fill the drainage separating East <br />and West Ridges, as well as the imposition of additional 530,000 cubic yards of material on top <br />of the original Phase I and II waste piles. This had been projected to occur over a life span of <br />thirty-six (36) additional years. The total life of the three phases would have been forty-eight <br />(48) years and would have encompassed the disposal of 720,500 cubic yards of processed waste. <br />The Division approved Phase I of the proposed waste structure. Phase I contained sufficient <br />waste disposal area to accommodate the mine's waste production. However, Phases II & III of <br />the proposed structure were never approved due to the shutdown of the mine. There were <br />several specific aspects of the conceptual plans for Phases II and III which would have required <br />significant effort to resolve. The applicant proposed a subdrain to accommodate the surface <br />flow of the ephemeral channel separating the East and West Ridges. This subdrain would have <br />required considerable geotechnical and hydrogeological justification and specific final <br />engineered design. In addition, stability analyses for Phases II and III would have been required <br />prior to approval of either of these facilities in later permit terms. Bowie Resources LLC <br />understood that any future mining, if it should ever occur, could proceed only as long as a waste <br />disposal site with capacity was available and permitted by the Division. <br />In September 1990, the operator began removing material from the West Ridge waste pile and <br />distributing it as product to a nearby power plant. This operation ceased in October 1991 after <br />32