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The Thunder Basin Coal Company, LLC, Coal Creek Mine of Wright, WY (Permit No. 483) has applied for Area and Phase 1 Bond release from the Land Quality Division of the Department of Environmental Quality for the State of Wyoming. This permit was originally approved on March 16, 1979. The coal mining permit area is located in portions of Sections 3, 4, and 5 in Township 45N, Range 70W; Sections 4, 7-9, 15- 22, 27-29, and 32-34 in Township 46N, Range 70W; and Section 13 in Township 46N, Range 71W of Campbell County, Wyoming. The permit area is approximately 25 miles southeast of Gillette, Wyoming off of the Hoadley Campbell County Road. This area can be found on the Neil Butte USGS quadrangle map.
The parcels to be released from bond are located in portions of Section 13 of Township 46 North, Range 71 West and Sections 7, 8, 16 to 21, 27, 28, 33, and 34 in Township 46 North, Range 70 West in Campbell County. The area bond release request includes 378.6 acres of rough backfill in the amount of $377,021. The phase 1 bond release request includes 374.4 acres of scarification, topsoil redistribution, and revegetation in the amount of $316,045. The total amount requested is $693,066. Reclamation activities were primarily completed in 2022 and 2023.
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 West 17th Street, Suite 10, Cheyenne, WY 82002, before the close of business 2 May 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 (WS §16-3-101 though §16-3-115), with the 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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