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Land Management; and landowners Duane and Darrel Hockett and Xcel Energy. A public notice <br />of the application was published in the Steamboat Pilot once a week for four consecutive weeks <br />beginning August 7, 2011 and ending August 28, 2011. There were no comments regarding this <br />permit revision received by the Division as a result of the published public notice or notification <br />letters. <br />The Division reviewed the permit revision application and forwarded adequacy questions and <br />comments to Seneca Coal Company on September 9, 2011. The Division received Seneca Coal <br />Company's response on November 15, 2011; the response adequately addressed all of the <br />Division's concerns. <br />The Division queried the Applicant Violator System (AVS) on several occasions during the permit <br />revision application review, and there were no violations listed that would preclude approval of <br />the permit revision. <br />The reclamation cost estimate for bond liability has been revised as a result of this revision <br />application. The reclamation liability of the Seneca II -W Mine will be reduced by $487,877.00, <br />which is the estimated cost for reclamation of the Tie - Across Haul Road disturbance area. The <br />calculated liability for the Seneca II -W Mine will be $6,255,553.00. SCC has self bonded in the <br />amount of $6,743,430.00. Upon final approval of this proposed decision, SCC may reduce the self <br />bond amount to $6,255,553.00. <br />Description of the Environment <br />The Seneca II -W Mine is located in northwest Colorado approximately 7 miles south of Hayden in <br />Routt County. The Seneca II -W Mine lies 7 miles west of the Seneca II Mine, Permit No. <br />C- 1980 -005 and the Sage Creek Mine, Permit No. C- 2009 -087 and 3.5 miles west of the Yoast <br />Mine, Permit No. C- 1994 -082. The mine is located between two historic operations, Grassy <br />Creek Mine to the east, and Hayden Gulch Mine to the west. See Figure 1 for further detail. The <br />mining area can be found on the Hayden, Hayden Gulch, Mount Harris and Dunkley Quadrangles <br />7.5 Minute Series Maps. The coal from Seneca II -W was hauled over county and private <br />roadways by private hauler to the Hayden Station Power Plant operated by Xcel Energy. Haulage <br />distance is approximately ten miles each way, and the Tie - Across Haul Road was utilized for <br />transport. Baseline environmental information collected for the Seneca II -W Mine can be located <br />in Tabs 4 through 11 in the permit application. <br />Geology and Topography <br />Elevation of the general mine site varies from approximately 6400 to 8350 feet. Slopes range <br />from about 2 percent to nearly 100 percent. Prominent ledges are formed by the Twentymile <br />sandstone in the western permit area and the Trout Creek sandstone ledge in the eastern permit <br />boundary. Many of the drainages are deeply incised. <br />Seneca II -W Findings Document 6 C- 1982 -057 <br />Permit Revision No. 6 January 6, 2012 <br />