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Ms. Rena J. Brand <br />U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District <br />Denver Regulatory Office <br />9307 South Wadsworth Boulevard <br />Littleton, CO 80128 -6901 <br />Mr. Rob Zuber, P.E. <br />Colorado Department of Natural Resources <br />Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Dear Terry, Rena and Rob: <br />27 October 2011 <br />LETTER SENT VIA E -MAIL <br />Re: Request for an NWP 21- Surface Coal Mining Activities, 404 Permit Application for <br />the Kerr Coal Company, Sediment Pond - Walden, Jackson County, CO <br />Based upon your inspection of this site conducted on 18 October 2011 and the discussions we <br />had at that time, I have been directed by Mr. George Patterson of Kerr Coal Company Inc., to <br />submit the information you requested and ask that you proceed with issuing a formal NWP 21- <br />Surface Coal Mining Activities, 404 Permit, for the backfilling and reclamation of the sediment <br />pond located on this site. <br />We agree with you that the wetlands located within the footprint of the sediment pond are <br />hydrologically and continuously connected with the wetlands adjacent to those of the Illinois <br />River and thus these wetlands appear to meet the definition of "adjacent wetlands" as found in <br />the Guidance issued by the Corps of Engineers subsequent to the 2006 Raponas Supreme Court <br />decision. <br />As we discussed regarding the calculation of the potential wetland impact area, we took our <br />Trimble Model Geo XH Global Positioning Unit, which typically has an accuracy of less than <br />30 centimeters, and took measurements on the wetland boundaries. In addition, we also <br />compared these measurements with the Goggle Earth aerial photograph, taken on the site in <br />October 2010 by the United States Department of Agriculture. While on the site, you verbally <br />indicated that you had determined that the inside perimeter of the wetland fringe on this site was <br />roughly 600 linear feet and that the average width of the wetland ranged between 4 and 6 feet. <br />Based, upon our measurements of the site and interpretation of the aerial photograph, we <br />measured the interior circumference of the wetland fringe as exactly 600 linear feet with the <br />average width of the wetland fringe as 5.9 feet. A copy of this wetland map is enclosed and is <br />called the "Kerr Coal Company - Tipple Sediment Pond Wetland Map." Overall, we calculate <br />that backfilling the sediment pond will impact a total of 3,540 SF or 0.08 acre of jurisdictional <br />wetland. <br />You indicated that if the wetland impacts were less than one tenth of an acre, there would not be <br />a need to implement a compensatory wetland mitigation plan. It is our opinion after our study of <br />the site, that the wetland impacts will be less than the threshold amount you indicated. <br />