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COLORADO <br />Division of Reclamation, <br />Mining and Safety <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />April 21, 2014 <br />To: Marcia Talvitie <br />From: Susan Burgmaier <br />Re: Bowie No. 1 Mine (Permit No. C- 1981 -038) <br />Technical Revision No. 58 <br />Preliminary Adequacy Review <br />Per your request, I have reviewed Bowie Resources, LLC's (BRL's) application for Technical <br />Revision No. 58. BRL is seeking approval to remove the sediment ponds and alternate <br />sediment control structures at the West Mine and ROM areas. I have the following <br />comments on the application. <br />1. BRL has provided soil loss comparison information for the West Mine and ROM areas <br />compared to pre -mine conditions. The comparison provided by BRL, a Revised <br />Universal Soil Loss Equation ( RUSLE) calculation, concludes that reclaimed areas are <br />not contributing sediment in excess of premine levels. The RUSLE demonstration can <br />be reasonably construed to imply that untreated drainage from the disturbed areas will <br />not contribute suspended solids at levels above natural conditions and would meet the <br />State and Federal water quality standard requirements, as required by Rule 4.05.2(2). <br />In addition to the demonstration provided by BRL, BRL's quarterly sediment pond <br />inspections for the ROM, West Mine 1, and West Mine 2 ponds for the last five years <br />were reviewed. Sediment levels in the ponds have remained fairly constant and the <br />ponds have not required dredging, suggesting that reclaimed areas are not contributing <br />a large amount of sediment. <br />Division inspection reports from the last three years indicate that there is rarely water <br />in any of these three ponds, even after heavy rainfall in the area was reported, which <br />would indicate that vegetation on the reclaimed areas is well established and effectively <br />reducing the amount of runoff and subsequent sediment load from the reclaimed areas. <br />The inspection reports also document stable ground conditions (absence of erosional <br />features), also supporting the appropriateness of removing the drainage control <br />structures at this time. <br />Colo <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215, Denver, CO 80203 P 303.866.3567 F 303.832.8106 http: / /mining.state.co.us <br />John W. Hickenlooper, Governor I Mike King, Executive Director I Virginia Brannon, Director ** <br />I87 <br />