|
which preceded Permit No. C-81-038, was issued, with eight additional stipulations, by the Division on
<br />April 20, 1983.
<br />On August 29, 1984, Colorado Westmoreland Inc. submitted a permit revision to their existing Permit
<br />No. C-83-038. The permit revision incorporated an additional 5,719.7 acres of adjacent federal coal
<br />(Lease C-37210) into the mine permit area. CWI planned to mine this coal by extending the existing
<br />mine workings north and west into these areas.
<br />On June 1, 1986, the Orchard Valley Mine (Bowie No. 1) experienced a mine fire that necessitated the
<br />closure of the mine portals. Because of the high potential for reignition of the workings if the portals
<br />were reopened, an alternative portal area was chosen. Permit Revision No. 2 (PR-02) was submitted
<br />August 18, 1986, proposing the construction of a temporary portal in an area west of the existing facilities
<br />in the East Roatcap Creek drainage. This portal (Orchard Valley West Mine (OVWM)) was originally
<br />proposed to remain active for approximately two years after construction, but market conditions made it
<br />necessary to use these facilities to export coal from the mine until June 1993. BRL has completed most of
<br />the reclamation operations at the West Mine, the details of which are discussed in detail further in this
<br />findings document. On April 9, 2002, BRL received approval for a partial Phase One Bond Release (SL-
<br />02) for the reclamation work done at the West Mine as well as at the main mine.
<br />PR-02 also had provisions for the construction of a haul road from Steven's Gulch to the proposed West
<br />Mine portal site. The entries of the portals run northwest until they intercept the sub-main entries of the
<br />previously approved mine plan. A "Findings of Compliance" was issued on October 12, 1986,
<br />superseding the findings proposed in June 20, 1985 for Permit No. C-81-038. The document also took
<br />into consideration any stipulations imposed on Permit C-81-038 by reinforcing those stipulations that still
<br />applied.
<br />On November 5, 1987, Colorado Westmoreland Inc.'s application for renewal (RN-01) of a valid and
<br />existing permit to conduct coal mining operations, Permit No. C-81-038, was deemed complete. The
<br />Division published its proposed decision to approve the revision with ten stipulations on August 4, 1988,
<br />and amended the permit decision of March 21, 1983 by renumbering the permit as C-81-038 to ensure
<br />consistency within the Division's files. Permit C-81-038 was issued by the Division on July 21, 1988.
<br />However, this date was in error; the permit issuance should have been April 20, 1988. In order to remedy
<br />this situation, the 1993 permit renewal issuance date was back-dated to April 20, 1993, with a permit
<br />expiration date of April 20, 1998.
<br />The Division issued a decision on August 10, 1989 to approve the transfer of mining permit C-81-038
<br />from Colorado Westmoreland Inc. to Cyprus Orchard Valley Coal Corporation (COVCC).
<br />On January 21, 1993, COVCC submitted an application for permit renewal number 2 (RN-02). After the
<br />Division's adequacy review questions were satisfactorily answered, the proposed decision to approve
<br />with conditions was made on July 23, 1993. The decision became final on August 23, 1993. Due to the
<br />error in assigning the correct permit issuance date in 1988, the permit renewal number 2 issuance date
<br />was back-dated to April 20, 1993 and the expiration date became April 20, 1998. Stipulations numbers
<br />26, 27, 28, 34, 41, 42 and 43 were attached to permit renewal number 2.
<br />On April 28, 1993 Permit Revision No. 3 was submitted by COVCC for the inclusion of 510 acres into
<br />the permit area, as a result of the new coal lease COC-53356. The permit revision, with ten stipulations
<br />attached, was approved on July 30, 1993.
<br />On May 22, 1993, Technical Revision No. 22 was approved. This TR added sixty acres to the west side of
<br />the permit area, so that the permit boundary would include the angle of draw projected to the surface for
<br />coal lease COC-37210M.
<br />6
|