_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017 ‎(230)‎

• Permit No: C1981017
• IBM Index Class Name: GENERAL DOCUMENTS
• Doc Name: Bid Documents ‎(IMP)‎ 1999 Correspondence
• Permit Index Doc Type: General Correspondence
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Generally, the reclamation provisions of the Act require that excavated areas, such as highwalls,
be backfilled with earthen materials so that the original, pre-mining topography (commonly
referred to as approximate original contour, or AOC) is reestablished, that drainages and streams
are returned to their original condition,that pollution of waters (including sedimentation, a
common coal mining related problem) from the mining operation does not occur, that topsoil be
returned to the disturbed areas, and that disturbed areas be revegetated to a pre-defined standard.
The Act requires that a reclamation bond be submitted by the coal mining company. The bond is
to be sufficient in amount so that the State can accomplish reclamation of the site according to
the requirements of the permit and of the Act should the operator default prior to completing the
required reclamation tasks. The amount of the bond is determined by periodically estimating the
cost of reclamation given these requirements and site conditions.
As required by the Act, Mid-Continent submitted a mining and reclamation permit application.
This multi-volume application was evaluated by the Colorado Division of Mined Land
Reclamation(Division), predecessor to the Division of Minerals and Geology. During the
evaluation process, many pieces of correspondence were generated by both Mid-Continent and
Division staff. This correspondence contains many modifications to the originally submitted
plan, and also contains many reclamation commitments. The record thus created includes many
different pieces of information which are pertinent to reclamation of the site. Upon approval of
the permit, as required by the Act,the Division complied the pertinent operational and
reclamation information contained in the permit application and that which was submitted as a
part of the permit review process. Based upon the agreed upon operations and reclamation plans,
an estimate of the cost of reclaiming the mine site was agreed upon by the Division and
Mid-Continent. A summarization of the agreed upon operating and reclamation plan, as well as
summaries of environmental baseline information was recorded in a document prepared by the
Division entitled"Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance" (Findings).
As allowed by the Act, Mid-Continent submitted many revisions to its operations and
reclamation plans over the years following permit issuance. In 1988, Mid-Continent submitted a
renewal application. This application largely duplicated the original permit, however, many new
pieces of information were added as a result of operating for about five years under the original
permit. As with the original permit review, an extensive record of operational and reclamation
related commitments was created, another estimate of the cost of accomplishing reclamation was
generated, and a new Findings document was prepared . Subsequent to issuance of the renewed
permit, a number of revisions were again proposed by Mid-Continent, and subsequently
approved by the Division.
The records created during the original and permit renewal review processes, and the revisions to
each of the two permits all contain information pertinent to the reclamation of the Coal Basin
Mine. The Division believes that all of this information constitutes the Permit, and thus forms
the reclamation plan.
As it is pertinent to the current litigation, the critical elements of the reclamation plan include:
- Revegetation of the mine bench outslopes;
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