2011-08-24_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981012

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Division, Colorado Division of Water Resources, Colorado Division of Wildlife, and the US Natural Resource Conservation District. The Division forwarded adequacy concerns to NECC on April 13, 2011. The Division received responses to these adequacy concerns from NECC on June 7, June 20, and June 23, 2011. A joint meeting was held on June 30, 2011 to discuss additional concerns of the owners of the surface and owners of structures in the area to be affected by subsidence. In attendance were representatives of the Division, NECC, XTO (gas company producing from the area), Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW). As a result of the meeting, the Division received a revised subsidence control plan from NECC on July 21, 2011. Concurrence with the revised plan was received by the Division from the CDOW on July 11, 2011 and from XTO on July 27, 2011. On August 5 and August 18, 2011, the Division received final revised materials and subsequently proposed a decision to approve effective August 18, 2011. An Applicant Violator System (AVS) check was initially conducted on March 17, 2011 and returned a status of "no violations ". The system recommendation was "issue ". A final AVS check was conducted on August 9, 2011with the same result. Description of the Environment The mine site is located in a plateau area. The elevation of the surface facilities ranges from 7,400 to 7,800 feet. Land use in the area consists of cropland, rangeland, pastureland, and wildlife habitat. Livestock grazing and hay production on irrigated lands are the main agricultural practice conducted in the general area. A variety of large and small mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles are permanent or temporary residents of the area. The New Elk Mine is located in the western limb of the Raton Basin. The Raton Basin is a broad, asymmetric syncline whose axis trends north - south. Previous mining at this site was entirely within the Allen seam, stratigraphically located in the Raton Formation. The Poison Canyon Formation unconformably overlies the Raton Formation. The Poison Canyon Formation has a thickness of approximately 200 feet and occurs only as small, isolated outcrops above an elevation of 8,000 feet. Unconsolidated quaternary alluvial and colluvial deposits overlie the Raton Formation in the low -lying areas. The rock strata dip approximately two degrees to the north - northeast. The permit area contains one steep, normal fault trending east - northeast with vertical displacement less than 25 feet. The Allen Seam lies from 450 to 900 feet below the surface. Immediately above the coal are interbedded sandstone, siltstone, and shales. Interbedded sandstones, shales, and siltstones also underlie the seam. The alluvium of the Middle Fork of the Purgatoire River is a significant aquifer in the permit and adjacent areas. The Purgatoire River originates several miles west of the mine in the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. It flows into the Arkansas River near Las Animas, Colorado, approximately 120 miles northeast of the mine. 3