_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017 ‎(253)‎

• Permit No: C1981017
• IBM Index Class Name: GENERAL DOCUMENTS
• Doc Name: Bid Documents ‎(IMP)‎ 1994 Correspondence
• Permit Index Doc Type: General Correspondence
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

STATE OF COLORADO
DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY POW'.
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Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman St.,Room 215
Denver,Colorado 80203
Phone:[phone]
FAX:[phone]
December 6, 1994 DEPARTMENT OF
NATURAL
MEMO RESOURCES
Roy Romer
TO: Michael Long Governor
James S Lochhead
FROM: Steven Renner Executive Director
Michael B Long
RE: Coal Basin Access Division Director
I visited the Coal Basin Mine today to assess site conditions. The
mine has two to three feet of snow cover at the main gate. The
lower pond system (outfall 001) was discharging a few gallons per
minute (visual estimate) of clear water.
It was immediately apparent that the access road from Redstone to
the mine gate is not being plowed on a regular basis. About eight
to twelve inches of snow covered the road this morning. The
salvage crew is still at the site. The foreman stated that they
had plowed the road on an occasional basis using Mid-Continent
Resources road grader. As I understand, they will continue to
periodically plow the road over the next two to three weeks.
Apparently, the grader will be stored behind the coke ovens at the
Department of Highways sand storage yard. Based on the salvage
foremans' comments, it would appear that Mid-Continent does not
intend to maintain access to the mine over the winter months.
I think that maintaining access to the site is an important
consideration. Without keeping the road open, it would be
difficult, if not impossible, to quickly mobilize equipment to the
site in the spring should an emergency arise.
I suggest that the Executive Directors office contact a counterpart
at the Colorado Department of Transportation to ascertain whether
CDOT could add this road to its winter plowing schedule. The
minimum length of road which should be plowed is the four mile
stretch from Redstone to the main gate. Ideally, plowing the extra
mile to the Rock Tunnel entry would be desirable. Plowing would
start about January 1, 1995 and would continue as necessary until
no longer required (late March or April) . Using CDOT would save
reclamation funds, and demonstrate interagency cooperation in the
reclamation efforts at Coal Basin.
Two alternatives may also exist. We may wish to let a contract to
keep the road open. However, this would be less desirable as the
extent of the project, including the number of hours to be
contracted for, are unknown. A contract would also reduce the