Expiration date: 10/6/2013
Peabody Coulterville Mining, LLC seeks authorization to expand the impoundment area at the existing Gateway Mine coal refuse facility. The permit area for this Department of Army disturbance encompasses portions of Illinois Department of Natural Resources (ILDNR) SMCRA permits #160 and #225 and entirely #426 and totals 107.5 acres (Refuse Cell 5). The purpose of this disturbance is to construct a new refuse cell contiguous to the active refuse area which receives coarse (gob) and fine (slurry) refuse from the Gateway Mine preparation plant. The project will provide for approximately seven years of coal refuse capacity by constructing a cell which will have an impounding capacity of approximately five million cubic yards. The project area is located 2.6 miles southwest of Coulterville, Illinois. The project is bounded by Jean Road, Zeigler Mine Road, and Sarah Road. More specifically, in sections 15, 16, 21 and 21, Township 04 South, Range 05 West of the 3rd Principle Meridian, Randolph County, Illinois.
A total of 0.67 acres of wetlands were delineated, including 0.03 acre of palustrine forested (PFO), 0.03 acre of palustrine emergent (PEM), and 0.61 acre of palustrine unconsolidated bottom (PUB). A total of 4,455 linear feet of streams, which includes 1,628 linear feet of ephemeral stream and 2,827 linear feet of intermittent stream were assessed within the permit area. These aquatic features would be filled as part of this project.
The applicant plans on providing compensatory mitigation for impacts associated with the Gateway Mine Refuse Cell 5 project at an off-site mitigation area. The off-site mitigation area consists of forested wetland restoration and preservation as well as preservation of 930 feet of Marys River and contiguous forested wetlands and upland buffers. The compensatory mitigation will involve a combination of in-kind and out-of-kind mitigation. Stream impacts will be mitigated by a combination of forested wetland restoration and stream preservation. Wetland impacts will be mitigated primarily by forested wetland and upland forest preservation. The mitigation area is located along Marys River in Randolph County, Illinois, in portions of Sections 9 and 10 (Township 5 South, Range 5 West) approximately 3 miles southeast of the town of Sparta and approximately 4.4 miles south of the Refuse Cell 5 project.