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MOUNTAIN C0~ <br />-~ ~COMPANYL.L.C. <br />A Subsidiary of Arch Western Resources, LLC <br />December 30, 1999 <br />Mr. Michael Long <br />Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />• ~iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii <br />West Elk Mine <br />P O Box 591 <br />5174 Highway 133 <br />Somerset, CO 81434 <br />(970)929-5015 <br />Fa<(970)929-5595 <br />1 f3cCEl~/EU <br />JAN p3 2000 <br />Division of Minerals & Geolog/ <br />RE: Notice of Violation CV-99-015; West Elk Mine; Permit No. C-80-007 <br />Dear Mr. Long: <br />Mountain Coal Company, L.L.C. (MCC) requests that the above referenced Notice of Violation <br />be vacated. This letter is provided as allowed in Rule 5.04.3(1), to provide additional <br />information to determine the facts surrounding the above referenced violation, in support of this <br />request for vacation. <br />Notice of Violation CV-99-015 ("NOV") was issued to MCC on December 6, 1999 for failure to <br />conduct coal mining operations only as described in the approved application, failure to provide <br />a detailed and appropriate map describing the areal extent of the proposed underground <br />workings, and failure to obtain final approval before implementing a permit revision. The <br />abatement requires that the azea that has been mined be incorporated into the permit by final <br />approval of Permit Revision No. 8 (PR#8), that the necessary federal mine plan action approval <br />be obtained, and that all mining activities in the azea subject to the NOV cease. <br />MCC requests that the violation be vacated for the following reasons. First, the permit map <br />represents a projection of where mining will occur. Second, the major change that the NOV <br />alleges, the extension of the mains, occurred in an area that had been previously permitted. <br />Third, the adjustment in the location of the mains was minor. Finally, there has been no <br />environmental consequence from the adjustments made to the mine plan. In addition, the mining <br />that has occurred to date in this azea has been limited to the development of the main entries. No <br />longwall mining has occurred, as the start-line for the panel is outside of the current permit <br />boundary, which is the subject of the current permit revision application before the Division. <br />Map 52, which shows the B-Seam mine plan (approved in Permit Revision No. 6 and <br />subsequently revised and approved in Minor Revision No. 196) and the other mine plan maps in <br />MCC's permit, are a projection of where mining will occur. As constraints or opportunities (to <br />achieve Maximum Economic Recovery (MER) as required by the BLM) are encountered during <br />the mining process and as more is learned about the geology, adjustments are made to the mine <br />plan. However, if a major change is made, for example adding a new panel, significantly altering <br />the mine plan timing, reorienting panels or if the change causes the panel to fall outside the <br />permit boundary, MCC understands that a revision application needs to be submitted. MCC <br />