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The Thunder Basin Coal Company of Black Thunder Mine Permit No. 233 has applied for Phase 3 bond release from the Land Quality Division of the Department of Environmental Quality for the State of Wyoming. This permit was originally approved on December 3, 1974. The coal mining permit area is located in:
Township 42N, Range 71W: All or Portions of Sections 1-3;
Township 42N, Range 70W: All or Portions of Sections 1-6 and 10-15;
Township 43N, Range 69W: Portions of Sections 6 and 7;
Township 43N, Range 70W: All or Portions of Sections 1-36;
Township 43N, Range 71W: All or Portions of Sections 1- 3, 8-28, and 34-36
Township 44N, Range 71W: All or Portions of Sections 13-14, 22-27, and 34-36;
Township 44N, Range 70W: All or Portions of Sections 19-23, 25-36; Campbell County, Wyoming.
The area is approximately 12 miles southeast of the town of Wright, Wyoming and about 10 miles east of the intersection of Highways 59 and 450. This area can be found on the Hilight, Reno Reservoir, Reno Junction, and Little Thunder Reservoir USGS quadrangle map(s). The parcels to be released from bond are located in Sections 3,4,9,10, and 11 of Township 43 North, Range 70 West. This bond release request includes 801.9 acres of Phase 3 bond release and includes the release for scarification, topsoil redistribution, and revegetation in the amount of $214,030 for the above described area. Reclamation activities were completed in 2007.
Information regarding the mining operation, reclamation procedures and areas proposed for release may be reviewed in the Office of the Land Quality Division of the Department of Environmental Quality in Cheyenne and Sheridan, Wyoming. Written objections to the proposed bond release request must be received by the Administrator of the Land Quality Division, Department of Environmental Quality, 200 W. 17th Street, Suite 10, Cheyenne, WY 82002 before the close of business May 2, 2024. Objections may also be submitted by the same deadline via the Land Quality Division’s electronic comment portal at https://lq.wyomingdeq.commentinput.com/. If written objections are filed, and a public hearing is requested, the Environmental Quality Council (Council) shall hold a public hearing within sixty (60) days after the final date for filing objections unless a different period is stipulated to by all parties. The Council shall publish notice of the time, date and location of the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality of the proposed operation once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks immediately prior to the hearing. The hearing shall be conducted as a contested case in accordance with the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act (W.S. §16-3-101 through §16-3-115), with a right of judicial review as provided in that act. Without prejudice to the objector or applicant’s right to a hearing before the Council, the Administrator may hold an informal conference to resolve written objections after notification to all parties. The Administrator shall make a record of the conference unless waived by all parties, which shall be accessible to all parties. The Administrator shall furnish all parties of the conference with a written finding of the Division based on the conference, and the reasons for the finding.
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