2011-08-04_ENFORCEMENT - C1981008 ‎(2)‎

• Permit No: C1981008
• IBM Index Class Name: ENFORCEMENT
• Doc Date: 8/4/2011
• Doc Name: OSM Tech Review of PR6 Primeland Reclam, Soil Salvage & Redistribution, Graded Spoil & Soil Sampling
• From: OSM
• To: DRMS
• Email Name: MLT
• Email Name: SB1
• Email Name: DAB
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

OSM TECHNICAL COMPLIANCE EVALUATION OF COLORADO STATE PERMIT
C- 008 -81 AS REVISED BY THE PR -6 PERMIT REVISION APPLICATION
Prime Farmland Reclamation, Soil Salvage and Redistribution, Graded Spoil and Soil
Sampling - Morgan Property
1. COMPANY: Western Fuels — Colorado (WFC)
2. MINE /OPERATION: New Horizon Mine
3. INTRODUCTION: The evaluation and report contained herein was requested by the OSM
Denver Field Division as a means of aiding DFD's response to a number of citizen complaints
related to prime farmland reclamation plans and practices approved by the State of Colorado,
Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety (DRMS) for the New Horizon Mine located near
Nucla, Colorado. More specifically, this evaluation addresses Ms. JoEllen Turner's allegations
that DRMS has approved reclamation plans (soil handling, cropland re- establishment, and land
use practices) that are not in accord with Colorado's approved state program for administering
the requirements of the Surface Mining Reclamation & Control Act (SMCRA) of 1977, as
particularly related to restoring the agricultural capability of the Morgan family's prime
farmlands after mining and reclamation. The Morgan's own approximately 108 acres of
irrigated alfalfa croplands within the New Horizon Mine permit area (State Permit C- 008 -81)
that are in the process of being mined The prime farmland reclamation plans within State
Permit C- 008 -81 were most recently updated via permit revision application PR -6 approved by
the State in November 2010. This OSM report is primarily focused on the review and adequacy
of the currently approved permit reclamation plans as revised by PR -6, as related to the
Morgan's prime farmlands within the permit area; and uses as the criteria for this review the
Colorado State program regulations.
4. EVALUATION:
A. Part of document reviewed: WFC's approved permit for the New Horizon Mine, as
revised through the State of Colorado's November 2010 approval of Permit Revision 06
(PR -06). This review focuses on those portions of the permit that address the soil handling
plans, and spoil and soil sampling plans approved for implementation on the prime
farmlands owned by the `Morgans'.
1 USDI /Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), Program Support Division, Denver, CO
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