Annual Report 3 - New Mexico - Energy, Minerals and Natural ...

(CCBs) inter-layered with previously removed overburden. Due to concerns regarding the potential to impact
groundwater resources, MMD has initiated two separate studies. The first study is a multi-year study developed with
the U.S. Geological Survey New Mexico Water Science Center to model the groundwater recharge of the area to
determine the potential for metals that may be leached from CCBs in the reclaimed mine pits to be transported by
groundwater to wells or streams. The second is a two-year study to be conducted by the University of New Mexico
to determine the potential for leachates from CCB disposal at the San Juan Mine to contaminate ground water. The
study will analyze and interpret leachate data collected to date, conduct additional leach tests to enable quantitative
prediction of contaminant release kinetics, develop a one-dimensional unsaturated water flow model that can be used
for estimating vertical contaminant transport, and develop recommendations for improved ash disposal to assure
protection of ground water resources. Combined with ongoing monitoring of the ground water resources at and
around the San Juan Mine, MMD will have the information needed to accurately and effectively protect groundwater
resources for future generations.
RESTORATION OF MINED LANDS: Although the previous information provides insight
into the many accomplishments that MMD has been a part of, it is important to supplement this with details specific
to MMD’s ultimate goal: ensuring the restoration of lands used for mining. Perhaps the clearest way to demonstrate
the successes over the majority of the last decade is in the number of projects completed and the amount of land
restored under the stewardship of MMD. Between the coal and non-coal mines, over 10,000 acres have been
reclaimed to pre-mining conditions. In our Abandoned Mine Lands Program, over 2,150 dangerous abandoned mine
openings and hazardous mine structures have been safeguarded and about 100 eroding or burning coal mine waste
piles have been reclaimed. Some significant individual accomplishments are listed below.
In 2005, MMD approved the final reclamation and returned the bond for the Cimarron Underground Coal Mine.
The mine was part of Pittsburg & Midway Coal Company’s York Canyon Complex. Reclamation of the mine
included the regrading of slopes to their original contours, placement of topsoil, and seeding with native vegetation
to create stable ground cover and prevent erosion. The mine was located in Colfax County, approximately 33 miles
west of Raton, on Highway 555. Coal mining operations began at the mine in 1986 and ceased in 1995. A total of 54
acres of private fee lands were disturbed and then reclaimed.
In 2007, the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining (OSM) selected New Mexico to receive
the 2007 National Award for Excellence in Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation, its highest award for abandoned
mine reclamation, for outstanding performance and exemplary abandoned mine land reclamation at the Real de
Dolores Mine Safeguard Project. The project is located roughly halfway between Santa Fe and Albuquerque in the
Ortiz Mountains Educational Preserve, managed by the Santa Fe County Open Space and Trails Program. The
reclamation effort focused on safeguarding 14 hazardous mine openings while preserving historic cultural resources,
the historic mining landscape and biological resources. The award for the project recognized the use of innovative
mine closure techniques. The Real de Dolores project was the first use of polyurethane foam plugs to seal large mine
shafts in New Mexico. Bat cupolas were constructed at two sites to preserve bat colonies that use the underground
mine workings as habitat. These accomplishments, and the collaboration with preservation groups, mining
companies, and others, were major factors in winning the national award.
ANNUAL REPORT 2010
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