Laserfiche WebLink
reclamation, for their use as a waste transfer facility. In 1989, Peabody permitted a <br />geographically separate mining area, the “Nucla East Mine”, and incorporated it into the Nucla <br />Mine permit. WFC purchased both the Nucla and Nucla East Mines from Peabody in 1992, and <br />renamed them the New Horizon Mines 1 and 2 (NH1 and NH2), respectively. Mining at the <br />Nucla (NH1) mine was completed by Peabody in the early 1980s. WFC commenced mining at <br />NH2 in 1993, and further increased the NH2 permit acreage in 1996 and 2000. Once the coal <br />reserves at NH2 are exhausted (in 2013), WFC’s mining operations will be shifted to the NHN <br />Mine. Map 2.04.3-2 of the permit shows the extent of “pre-law” and “post-law” mining that has <br />occurred in the surrounding area. <br /> <br />The proposed NHN Mine facilities and operations areas will occupy one-half square mile of land <br />(317 acres) that is bounded by Montrose County Roads on the North, South, East and West <br />(roads Z, AA, 26.50 and 26.00, respectively). The southern portion (103 acres) of the NHN <br />permit area was part of Peabody’s Nucla Mine (now NH1). Of this, approximately 66 acres was <br />mined and reclaimed. Reclamation was completed in 1993, with a post-mining land use of <br />Dryland Pasture; final bond release has not yet been achieved. This residual acreage is being <br />absorbed into the NHN Mine permit area. <br /> <br />WFC’s mining equipment is presently being utilized at the NH2 mine. An equipment corridor, <br />0.80 miles in length, 50 feet in width, and incorporating 5 acres of disturbance, has been <br />proposed to connect the northwest corner of the NH2 permit area with the southern boundary of <br />the NHN Mine permit area. The corridor lies on land owned by WFC, much of which was <br />previously mined by the Navajo and Nucla mines, and provides an overland route for relocation <br />of mining equipment that is too large to utilize county roads. <br /> <br />Land Use – Section 2.04.3 of the permit <br /> <br />Four pre-mining land use categories occur within the proposed New Horizon North Mine Permit <br />area. Grazingland and Pastureland are the two primary land uses which account for 50.8% and <br />42.9%, respectively. The remaining two land uses are Residential (5.8%) and Developed Water <br />Resource (0.5%). Land Uses are shown on Map 2.04.3-1 of the permit application. <br /> <br />Within the NHN application, the term “Grazingland” has been used in lieu of the “Rangeland” <br />category presently found in Colorado’s Rules. Justification for this change in nomenclature is <br />based on OSM’s adoption of the term Grazingland in 2006 and Colorado’s application for a <br />revision to the Rules to comply with the Federal categories. The Grazingland land use is <br />subdivided into four categories: Reclamation (~66 acres), found on those areas mined and <br />reclaimed by Peabody between 1978 and 1983; Sagebrush (~65 acres), with native vegetation <br />that has been heavily impacted by livestock feeding and grazing; Subirrigated (~28 acres), which <br />is generally found adjacent to livestock ponds and along the drainage channels that cross the <br />northern half of the permit area; and Drainage Channel (0.7 acres). <br /> <br />Pastureland is divided into three categories: Irrigated (~57 acres), those areas that have been <br />irrigated within the past five years; Dryland (~44 acres), which has not been irrigated regularly in <br />the past five years; and Intensively Managed Irrigated Pasture (~37 acres), that has been <br />managed with extra attention given to irrigation and fertilization. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />5 <br /> <br />