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Mine Site Inspection <br />Mine Name: Williams Fork Mine <br />Permittee: Moffat County Mining, LLC <br />Permit ID#: C-1981-044 <br />Inspection Date: May 17, 2017 12:15 — 2:00 <br />Inspection Type: OSMRE Independent Partial Inspection <br />Weather Conditions: Overcast, snowing, wet ground <br />Participants: <br />Christine Belka, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) #182 <br />Jason Musick, Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety (DRMS) <br />Miranda Blomquist, Moffat County Mining (MCM) <br />Jerry Nettleton, MCM (end of inspection only) <br />Williams Fork is an active, non -producing, underground coal mine located south of Craig, Colorado. <br />Mining operations are complete and the site is being reclaimed. No reclamation activity was occurring <br />during this inspection due to adverse weather conditions. This was an OSMRE independent partial <br />inspection focused on recent activity within the permit area. <br />Peabody / Moffat County Mining hired a contractor to conduct structure demolition which has been <br />ongoing in recent weeks. Demolished structure materials are being stored on site and will be removed by <br />salvage crews. Some structures such as conveyors will be brought to the Sage Creek Mine (owned by the <br />same parent company) while others may be sold for use, salvaged as scrap metal, or properly disposed. <br />Portal 5a has been sealed. Debris from recent structure demolition is currently being stored within the <br />disturbed portal area. The multi -service building is being retained at the landowner's request but all <br />internal material will be removed. <br />We observed small stock ponds 9P-5 and 9P-6 which were not retaining water during the inspection and <br />discussed the requirements for retaining them as permanent features. Colorado's program at Rule <br />4.05.9(13) specifies the required demonstrations for approving permanent retention of impoundments. <br />This includes a demonstration that the level of water is sufficiently stable to support the intended use. <br />Because these ponds are typically dry, this may be a challenge for MCM. Documenting when these ponds <br />do retain water would be necessary to make such a demonstration. Otherwise, these ponds should be <br />reclaimed provided that they are not necessary in support of mining or reclamation activities (i.e. are not <br />sedimentation ponds receiving runoff from lands that have yet to be reclaimed or that have been <br />reclaimed for less than two years). <br />There is an abandoned mine lands project ongoing within the permit area to extinguish a coal seam fire <br />related to historic mining. Moffat County Mining is not responsible or liable for this fire. The DRMS <br />Inactive Mine Reclamation Program (1MRP) is funding the project and has hired contractors to do the <br />work. In order to bring the necessary equipment on site, the contractors widened an existing road within <br />the permit area. The IMRP is assuming reclamation responsibility to return this road to its original width <br />when it is no longer needed to access the project area. <br />Large sections of conveyor and its encasement tube have recently been taken down including the section <br />previously running above State Highway 13. The section that crosses above the Williams Fork River still <br />remains intact. This section is large and will be difficult to remove given its weight and the logistics <br />presented by the river. MCM is constructing a pad to accommodate a large crane which will lift this <br />Page I 1 <br />