2014-03-07_INSPECTION - M1985210

Home Browse Search

PERMIT #: M- 1985 -210 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS: MAC INSPECTION DATE: March 6, 2014 OBSERVATIONS The inspection was conducted by Michael Cunningham of the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (Division) and David Foster of the Hazardous Materials Waste Management Division (HMWMD). Doug Bachli of Rocky Road Investments was also present for the inspection. The Rocky Road Quarry is located 4 miles west of Loveland in Larimer County, Colorado. The site is permitted for 106.5 acres with a maximum allowed disturbance of 25 acres. The post- mining land use is rangeland. On March 4, 2014, the Division received a notice from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment ( CDPHE) Incident Report System. The report was filed anonymously and the complainant alleged that the Operator of the Rocky Road Quarry has dumped hundreds of gallons of motor oil and hydraulic oil directly onto the ground surface over the past 8 to 10 years. In addition, the complainant stated that the Operator has excavated the contaminated soil and disposed of it at another location on the mine site. The Rocky Road Quarry operates under a 112 Construction Materials Reclamation Permit and the commodity of interest is sandstone. The purpose of the inspection was to investigate the claim that soil was being contaminated with motor oil and hydraulic oil. The Division met with Mr. Bachli near the mine office and provided him with a copy of the CDPHE report. Mr. Bachli denied the claim that motor and hydraulic oil from mine equipment was allowed to drain directly into the soil. Mr. Bachli conceded that the mine operation needed a better process for handling used fluids from mine equipment and that incidental spills of motor oil and hydraulic oil have occurred. The equipment service area is approximately 0.25 acres in size and is located above the mine office off of the main access road. The service area consists of several small sheds and a covered carport. The Operator has a designated tank which is used to collect used oil; the tank has secondary containment. The Operator contracts with Raptor Oil Services to periodically collect and remove the used oil from the site. The Division observed that oil had overflowed from the main tank into the secondary containment reservoir. The secondary containment reservoir should remain empty and excess oil should not be allowed to overflow from the main tank. The Operator has several tanks which are used for storing new oil; these tanks are under a small three -sided shed. However, the tanks do not have any form of secondary containment. All tanks on the site used to store fuel and oil must have the appropriate secondary containment; secondary containment must be able to hold 110% of the volume of the main tank. The Operator is storing used oil filters in 55 gallon drums; the bottom of the 55 gallon drums were rusted and were allowing oil to drain to the ground surface. Any containers which will store used oil filters shall have a lid, shall not have any holes, shall not be stored directly on the ground and shall be appropriately labeled. The Division observed staining of the soil in the equipment service area which was indicative of minor spills of oil; however, there was no evidence that the Operator has been deliberately dumping used motor oil and hydraulic oil onto the ground. In addition, the Division did not make any observations which would indicate that any of the spilled oil had been mobilized from the equipment service area. The lack of adequate containment of oil in the equipment service area has been cited as a problem and will require corrective action by the Operator; please see the first page of this report for additional details. The Operator shall submit a Technical Revision to address the problem. The Technical Revision shall at a minimum include the following information: Page 2 of 8