2016-01-13_INSPECTION - M1986016

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PERMIT #: M-1986-016 INSPECTOR’S INITIALS: AME INSPECTION DATE: January 13, 2016 Page 2 of 7 OBSERVATIONS This was a normal monitoring inspection of the Caldwell Brothers 3 site (Permit No. M-1986-016) conducted by Amy Eschberger of the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (Division). Mr. Dennis Caldwell represented the operator, Caldwell Brothers during the inspection. The site is located approximately 3 miles south of Rocky Ford, Colorado. Access to the site is either from the east off of CO-71 (main entrance), or from the southwest by driving through the Caldwell’s private residence off of Co Rd 19. The affected land is owned by Wayne Caldwell and Dennis Caldwell. The approved post-mining land use is rangeland. This is a 112c operation permitted for 51 acres to mine sand and gravel to a maximum depth of 15-20 feet. The approved mining plan included five mining phases, starting near the center of the permit area and moving in a counter-clockwise direction. The northeastern portion of the permit area was mined in the late 1970’s through the 1980’s. This area was reclaimed soon after mining was completed. There is a rectangular-shaped area of land approximately 4 acres in size separating the northeastern portion of the permit area from the southwestern portion, which is not included in the approved permit area. This area is designated as the “Deleted Area” on the approved mining plan map. The approved reclamation plan for this site includes grading all disturbed slopes to 3H:1V or flatter, replacing topsoil on disturbed land at an average depth of 6 inches, and revegetating the land with a rangeland grass mixture. At the time of the inspection, the weather was clear, sunny and cool. No standing water was observed on site. A permit sign was posted at the main site entrance off of CO-71. The approved permit boundary was delineated by property fencelines and metal posts (Photo 1). The site was not active during the inspection. However, according to the operator, the site is active every year, which is in accordance with its intermittent status. Active mining has been restricted to the southwestern portion of the site (Phase 4) since the 1990’s. A small pit excavation is present in this area, with an approximately 450 foot long, up to 15 foot tall, east-facing highwall (Photos 2 and 3). The pit floor is level, and the highwall has near vertical slopes. Mining appears to be advancing generally westward. An area located east of the highwall is used to store tree debris (Photo 4). There is a small excavation located just outside of the southern permit boundary which existed prior to the current permitted operation. The Division observed the reclaimed northeastern portion of the site. This area had been graded to flatter than 3H:1V and showed a good establishment of grasses mixed with some yucca (Photos 5-8). It appears that this portion of the permit area has been reclaimed in accordance with the approved reclamation plan. During the inspection, the Division discussed with Mr. Caldwell the possibility of releasing this portion of the permit area, which could be done by submitting an Acreage Reduction request (see enclosed form). If the operator submits this request within 60 days of the signature date of this report, the Division would be able to approve the release without an additional inspection. Enclosed with this report is an aerial image of the site from Google Earth which shows the current approved permit area (red outline; 51 acres) and a potential revised permit area (blue outline; 18.5 acres) if the operator were to release the northeastern reclaimed portion. If this partial release was approved, it would release 32.5 acres, leaving a revised permit area of 18.5 acres. This is merely a suggestion based on the Division’s discussion with Mr. Caldwell during the inspection. If the reclaimed area just north of the current pit and the undisturbed area located east of the current pit will not be disturbed in the future, these areas might also be released. The Division currently holds a financial warranty for this site in the amount of $25,000.00 for a maximum disturbance of 10 acres at any time. After conducting this inspection, the Division has found the financial warranty to be sufficient to reclaim current disturbance. Overall, the site appeared to be stable. No problems were observed during the inspection.