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L PROCEDURES AND SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW PROCESS <br />The Roadside Portals (formerly known as the Roadside and Cameo Mines) is an underground <br />coal mining operation located in Mesa County, approximately three miles northeast of Palisade, <br />Colorado, adjacent to Interstate 70 and the Colorado River, at the Cameo exit in DeBeque <br />Canyon. Although the official status of the operation is "Active ", there has been no coal <br />extraction at the mine since December 1999. The operation includes the South Portal Area and <br />associated facilities and mine workings located east of I -70 and the Colorado River, the North <br />Portal Area and associated facilities and workings including coal waste disposal sites located to <br />the west of I -70 and the Colorado River, and the Unit Train Loadout, also located to the west of <br />I -70 and the Colorado River. With the exception of the train loadout facility, ongoing activity at <br />the Roadside Portals will be limited to monitoring, maintenance, and reclamation. As described <br />in more detail below, the train loadout facility was approved for storage and rail loading and <br />unloading of construction materials in 2006. Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. (Halliburton) <br />purchased the loadout and a portion of the railroad spur and overland conveyor areas in 2009 and <br />has continued to use the loadout as an industrial site. SCC is requesting full release of bond <br />liability for the train loadout and overland conveyor areas and following Division approval of <br />this bond release application intends to modify the permit area by removing these locations from <br />within the permit boundary. <br />The Xcel Energy Cameo Power Plant, which was a customer for coal from the Roadside Portals <br />when the mine was operating, is located just south of the North Portal facilities, on the west side <br />of the river. The Cameo Power Plant closed and entirely shut down its operations at the end of <br />December 2010. <br />Underground mining operations using modern, mechanized methods began in 1974, and <br />continued, under various operators and with several periods of temporary inactivity, until final <br />cessation of coal extraction in December 1999. Between 1974 and 1999, approximately 242 <br />acres of surface lands were disturbed in conjunction with the operation, which produced up to <br />70,000 tons of clean coal per month. Including areas overlying underground workings, <br />approximately 3,524 acres were affected by the operation, within the 10,310 acre permit area. <br />During the period of operations, coal was produced from both portals. South Portal operations <br />ceased in early 1997, and all coal production was shifted to the North Portal. Mining ceased at <br />the North Portal on December 2, 1999. Both the North and South Portals were subsequently <br />sealed and reclamation was initiated shortly thereafter. There are no plans for future coal <br />extraction at the operation, and reclamation work is largely completed. <br />Following Division approval of bond release request SL -03 in October 2007 releasing full <br />reclamation liability on 7,294 acres, the permit area now encompasses approximately 3016 acres. <br />The remaining acreage in the permit boundary include all surface disturbance areas associated <br />with above ground mine operations, reclamation, and ancillary facilities, including <br />environmental monitoring site locations. SCC applied for this Phase I /II /III bond release of 75.2 <br />acres (SL -07) under the Colorado Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act following final <br />reclamation of the Unit Train Loadout Facility (UTL) and portions of the Railroad Spur and <br />Overland Conveyor corridor. <br />Page 2 <br />