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PERMIT #: M- 1983 -176 . <br />INSPECTOR'S fNITIALS: TAK <br />INSPECTION DATE: November 20, 2013 <br />OBSERVATIONS <br />This inspection was conducted by Tom Kaldenbach and Tony Waldron of DRMS. The inspection was <br />conducted in response to a complaint received by DRMS on November 7, 2013 from Kirk Kirby, a homeowner <br />near the Speer Mining Resource site (see attached copy of complaint). The complaint describes ongoing <br />flooding of the home that the homeowner believes is caused by mounding of alluvial groundwater on the <br />upgradient side of the Speer Mining Resource site where the home is located. The address of the home is 10221 <br />E. 120th Avenue; Henderson, CO. The inspection began with a visit to Mr. Kirby's home, and ended with an <br />inspection of the Speer Mining Resource site. <br />Mr. Kirby was present during the portion of the inspection at his home. He explained that he has had to <br />continuously pump water from a sump in his basement since September 2013 in order to prevent flooding of <br />the basement (pumping had also been necessary at various times in past years, and the Board found the Speer <br />Mining operator in violation in 2009 for failure to prevent flooding of the basement). The homeowner's <br />pumping rate appeared during this inspection to be roughly 10 gallons per minute, based on a visual estimate of <br />the pumped water being discharged onto the ground in the yard of the house. The pump was approximately 5 <br />feet lower in elevation than the land surface outside the basement, as seen through a window in the basement. <br />There was no other evidence of flooding seen at the home. <br />Rob Laird represented the mine operator during the inspection of the Speer Mining Resource site. Mining <br />extraction at the site was completed in 2006, according to the mine's annual reports. Reclamation is in <br />progress on the site in the form of backfilling the pit excavations with imported inert fill, as approved in 2010 in <br />permit amendment AM -04. A french drain was also approved in AM -04 that will be constructed on the <br />upgradient (south and east) side of the pit. The purpose of the drain will be to convey alluvial groundwater <br />away from the upgradient sides of the backfilled pits so that mounding does not occur. Until the drain is <br />constructed, the operator's effort at prevent mounding of groundwater consists of letting inflowing alluvial <br />groundwater flow through an excavated trench that extends from the upgradient (south and east) side of the site <br />to the downgradient (north and west) side of the site. The downgradient part of the site is a pit lake. Water is <br />pumped out of the lake into the adjacent South Platte River. <br />During the inspection, water movement was barely detectable throughout the length of the trench. The <br />operator's representative explained that inflows of groundwater into the pits and the lake on the mine site <br />significantly increased in mid - September, following the extensive rains that caused flooding in much of the <br />South Platte basin. He explained that the mine would take whatever action is necessary (for example pumping <br />or work on the trench and the lake)to significantly increase flow through the trench and out of the lake so that <br />groundwater does not mound upgradient from the site. He also explained that he would step -up cooperative <br />efforts with the homeowner to prevent flooding impacts at the home. DRMS will follow -up with the operator to <br />verify positive drainage through the Speer Resource site has been adequately restored. <br />Page 2 of 4 <br />