_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017 (142)

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�. Ji I .meo - on inen minings o 0 s rday By RICK KARLIN basin that winter. Post staff writer ` It IS ObVIOUSIy not the intention Of any "There was literally water running a,. : . everywhere. There was no way to control DENVER — A one-day suspension of suspension tO jeopardize the long-term it ... our coal refuse became almost mining operations at Mid-Continent Vlalalllty ... We are concerned OI�VIOUSIy, about liquid ... we got caught,"he said. Resources Inc.'s Coal Basin mine site near Delaney said the Mancos shale that Redstone began this morning.The closure the spinoff impacts that this would create." exists in the Coal Basin results in a natural resulted from a series of environmental David Shelton,director of Colorado darkening of the water during high runoff �a violations more than a year ago. Mined land Reclamation Division Periods. The suspension, which began at 12:01 "The whole basin has been eroded a.m. today, was announced Tuesday af- out ... whenever a rainstorm ternoon by Mined Land Reclamation day-to-day maintenance tasks required to violation citations that stemmed largely comes ... the streams run black.There is Division Director David Shelton,following keep the mine operable. from a May 1984 inspection of the Coal no way the puny hands of Mid-Continent or r ,a an hour-long hearing in Denver before the Delaney told the Glenwood Post the Basin site. Then, state environmental man can prevent that. state's Mined Land Reclamation Board. shutdown would mean a production loss of inspectors charged that employees had Delaney's explanation was echoed by The board oversees the division, which 3,000 to 4,000 tons of coal. He would not failed to control or divert spring runoff Garfield County Commissioner Flaven regulates mining activities in Colorado. estimate the cost of the work stoppage. waters away from coal piles, resulting in Cerise, who attended the hearing to ask ' Shelton said the suspension was kept He and Shelton denied the sus Pe P pension coal-blackened water flowing into nearby that the mine not be shut down too long. ter' short because the MLRB did not want to was merely a token slap, The Associated streams. "Mother Nature does strange things and cause any economic damage or related Press reported. Delaney told the board the problems they are hard to control,"Creise said as he spinoffs that would result from a long "It certainly isn't a slap on the hand," started with a combination of heavy snow gave the board a petition signed by 1,600 shutdown or permanent closure. Delaney said. and a sudden warm spell that led to that county residents in support of the mire. "It is obviously not the intention of any He also stressed that Mid-Continent has year's freakishly high runoff. Also asking that the mines not be closed suspension to jeopardize the long-term paid more than $33,000 in fines for the ""In the winter of 1983 and 1984 we had for too long was Carbondale City Planner viability ... we are concerned, obviously, runoff violations and spent more than $1 the most adverse winter that has ever Mark Chain. about the spinoff impacts that this would million in improvements designed to keep occurred in the Coal Basin in our ex- "Revoking Mid-Continent's permit ^.� create,"he said. coal out of nearby streams. Those im- perience ... we had a desperate struggle would be devastating, not only Roughly 400 of the mine's 747 employees provements include shoring up the 23 to remain open ... men were floundering economically but psychologically," he were told to stay home today, said Mid- sediment ponds at the site and develop- around in the deep snow and frankly they said. Robert Delaney Continent Vice President Bob Delaney.He ment of a new coal refuse pile,he said. didn't know where they were at all times." Mid-Continent's vice president at hearing said the others would continue to work at The hearing decision resolves a series of He also said 250 inches of snow fell in the Please see`Suspension'on Page 2A