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III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 999 STATF. OF COLORADO DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY Departmem of Natural Resources 1313 Sherman 8L. Room 215 D I V I S I O N O I==~ Denver, Colorado 80203 M I N E R A L ~ -:= Phone: 17031 866-3 5 67 . FA%:17071832-8106 & ' GEOLOGY-- REClAM A710 Nrc November 8, 2000 MINING•SAf ETY" -• Jim Stover Bill Dwens Powderhorn Coal Company governor P O Box 1430 GreF E. Walther . . Eaecuuve Dneaor Palisade, Colorado S 1526 '.sichael a. long Dwrsion Direnor i RE: Roadside Mine Reclamation Issues Permit No. C-1981-041 Deaz Mr. Stover: We appreciated the opportunity to meet with you, Mike Jamison and Tonya Hammond on October 30. At the meeting, Mr. Jamison stated that, despiu the baalatrptcy, Powderhom Coal Company (Powderhom) intends to maintain compliance and conduct reclamation in accordance with permit and regulatory requirements at the Roadside North and South Portals Mine (Roadside). Mr. Jamison outlined a number of factors that contribuud to the banl¢uptcy filing by Quaker Coal Company and its subsidiaries, including Powderhorn. You and Mr. Jamison also described various possibilities Powderhorn is evaluating with respect to potential alternative land uses and reclamation modifications for certain affected areas and facilities at Roadside. You indicated that Powderhom intends to submit an application for revision of the permit addressing these modifications and related reclamation scheduling changes. As we pointed out at the meeting, there arc three currently outstanding permitting actions that need to be brought to closure: Technical Revision No. 32, Technical Revision No. 33, and the Mid-teen Permit Review. Issues pertinent to these actions aze outlined separately, below. Priority needs to be placed on providing substantive, approvable plans in response to issues addressed in these actions, which have not yet been resolved. Resolution of these issues should be given priority over the possible land use changes and reclamation schedule changes you described at the meeting. You responded to the Division's August f 0, 2000 TR-32 adequacy letter in a submittal dated November 2, 2000, and we are currently reviewing that submittal. We request that substantive responses to previously issued adequacy letters for TR-33, and the mid-term review letter be submitted by no later than November 30.2000. failure to comply will result in enforcement by the Division. Technical Revision (TR) 32: Revision Order Mine Closure Reclamation Plan Changes TR-32 application was submitted by Powderhom on June 5, 2000, in response to a February 18, 2000 revision order issued by the Division. The Division identified a number of deficiencies in the revision application, and issued an adequacy review letter on August l0, 2000, to which the operator has not yet responded. Two significant reclamation issues addressed in the adequacy letter relate to hydrologic and geomorphic concerns with the final reclamation configuration of the CRDA-2 refuse area; and fmal reclamation plan for the Coal Creek channel permanen[ diversion, and the adjacent permanent road and associated culverts. The letter also requested additional detail regarding sediment control demonstration for the loadout area reclaimed topography. During the review of TR-32, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), as the land management agency, commented on the Coal Creek channel and road reclamation. Specifically, BLM requested that existing culverts along the road segment of concern remain in place, with certain modifications to the "upper dip section" culvert concrete structure, and adjacent sections of the channel.