2016-01-04_INSPECTION - M1977081

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PERMIT #: M-1977-081 INSPECTOR’S INITIALS: PSH INSPECTION DATE: December 10, 2015 Page 2 of 10 OBSERVATIONS The Greeley West site was inspected by Peter Hays with the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (Division/DRMS) in response to an acreage reduction request (AR‐02) filed by the Operator on October 26, 2015. The Division is required by Rule 4.17.2 to inspect the lands and reclamation described in the request to determine if the Permittee has complied with all applicable requirements. Mr. Mike Hart with Hart Environmental representing Cottonwood Land and Farms, LLC (Cottonwood) and Mr. Bill Schenderlein with Blue Earth representing the City of Greeley (City) were present during the inspection. The Greeley West site was inspected in conjunction with the 25th Ave Site, M‐2002‐020. The Division will deny the acreage reduction request (AR‐02) based on the observations from this inspection. In the release request letter, the Operator states the site is currently permitted for 203.13 acres. The Operator requested a release of 164.4 acres from Greeley West site, leaving 38.49 permitted acres. The remaining 38.49 acre site would include the Cottonwood owned parcel north of the Cache La Poudre River and the 0.24 acre access easement to O Street leased from Flatirons Sand and Gravel Company. The 164.4 acres requested for release include; the 38.16 acre parcel owned by Cottonwood in the southeast corner of both sites, 2.31 acres for the railroad easement in the southwest corner of the site, 3.38 acres for the 35th Street easement along the west side of the site, and 1.18 acres for the Poudre Trail easements in the northeast corner of the site. The Division assumes the remaining requested release acreage includes the south and east portions of the Greeley West site included into the 25th Ave Site under the 2012 amendment application. However, the remaining acreage reduction acreage, 119.37 acres, does not match the 2012 amendment acreage of 195.48 acres. The Operator must clarify this difference in acreages in any future acreage reduction requests. The Division’s inspection focused on the northern and southeast parcels owned by Cottonwood. 38.16 acre southeast corner parcel The southeast parcel included in the release request was observed during the inspection. The parcel is defined by 25th Ave to the east, t‐posts and the tops of the pond berms to the north and fence line and F Street to the south. The visual topsoil stockpiles located in the southeast corner of the parcel remain in place. The topsoil stockpiles will be used by Cottonwood to reclaim portions of the southeast parcel. The slopes in portions of the east pond were steeper than the required 3H:1V. The Operator stated the slopes would be regraded to less than 3H:1V. Two erosion gullies were noted in the northeast corner of the east pond. Cottonwood stated the gullies will be repaired as part of the pond regrading. The house and tennis court located in the original Greeley West site permit boundary north of O Street have been raised. The area will need to be reclaimed as part of the final reclamation of the Greeley West site. The Division records indicate the house area is included in the Greeley West permit boundary, but was not included in the 25th Ave Site. The south pond was observed at the request of Cottonwood. The pond slopes were reclaimed to the required 3H:1V slope, topsoiled and vegetated to the water line prior to the dewatering of the southwest ponds to allow dry mining the southwest ponds. Cottonwood is concerned the groundwater elevation will be reduced once the slurry wall around the southwest pond is completed. The south pond shorelines consisted of gravelly slopes with annual weeds below the former waterline. The pond slopes will need to be topsoiled and revegetated with the approved seed mixture if the groundwater level does not return to the previous elevation. The truck traffic disturbance in the west end of the parcel has been recently reclaimed by