Laserfiche WebLink
April 12, 2018 C-1996-083/Bowie No. 2 Mine JHB <br /> <br /> <br />Number of Partial Inspection this Fiscal Year: 8 <br />Number of Complete Inspections this Fiscal Year: 3 <br /> <br /> Page 2 of 5 <br /> <br /> <br />Inspection Topic Summary <br />NOTE: Y=Inspected N=Not Inspected R=Comments Noted V=Violation Issued NA=Not Applicable <br />N - Air Resource Protection <br />N - Availability of Records <br />N - Backfill & Grading <br />N - Excess Spoil and Dev. Waste <br />N - Explosives <br />N - Fish & Wildlife <br />R - Hydrologic Balance <br />R - Gen. Compliance With Mine Plan <br />N - Other <br />N - Processing Waste <br /> <br />N - Roads <br />N - Reclamation Success <br />N - Revegetation <br />N - Subsidence <br />N - Slides and Other Damage <br />N - Support Facilities On-site <br />N - Signs and Markers <br />N - Support Facilities Not On-site <br />N - Special Categories Of Mining <br />N - Topsoil <br /> <br /> <br />COMMENTS <br /> <br />This was a partial inspection of the Bowie No. 2 Mine conducted by Janet Binns and Clayton Wein of DRMS. On <br />March 5, 2018 a neighboring rancher notified the Division of potential concerns regarding coal fines in a pond on <br />the south side of Highway 133 from the Bowie No. 2 Mine. The Division returned her call on March 6, 2018. <br />April 12, 2018 was a mutually agreed upon date to meet the rancher, Ms. Lisa Esher, at the site. Ms. Esher left the <br />Lazy H Ranch gate opened. The Division met Mr. Basil Bear, Mr. Bill Bear, of Bowie resources, and Ms. Tamme <br />Bishop, consultant for the operator, at the gate. The party met Ms. Esher on the property inside the gate. <br />HYDROLOGIC BALANCE - Rule 4.05 <br />Drainage Control 4.05.1, 4.05.2, 4.05.3; Siltation Structures 4.05.5, 4.05.6; Discharge Structures 4.05.7, 4.05.10; <br />Effluent Limits 4.05.2; Impoundments 4.05.6, 4.05.9; Stream Buffer Zones 4.05.18: <br /> Ms. Esher notified the Division with concerns regarding black material exposed in a dry beaver pond <br />adjacent to highway 133 directly south of Pond J. Pond J is within the Bowie No. 2 Permit area, and is located <br />north of highway 133. The beaver pond is located on the south side of highway 133, and outside of the permit <br />area boundary. The beaver pond previously held water but recently the dam was breached, so that the pond is <br />drying up, exposing blackish sediment. <br /> <br />The Division, with Basil Bear’s assistance, hand dug a hole on the edge of the sediment to 22” until the black-grey <br />sediment/muck demonstrated a color change to slightly brownish. This material was typical of sediments in an <br />anaerobic condition of decaying organic matter. This area receives spill over from high water of the Gunnison <br />River, runoff from Highway 133, and discharge from pond J at the Bowie No. 2 mine, in the event of the pond <br />discharging. <br /> <br />Further investigation using aerial photos available on Google Earth, finds that this pond area appears to be an old <br />river meander. Photos can be retrieved from August 2011, November 2012, June 2014, October 2015, and June <br />2016. The Area received a large precipitation event on July 28, 2013, that was greater than the predicted 25-year, <br />24-hour event that pond J is designed for. Ponds throughout the Bowie No. 2 permit discharged after that event. <br />Based upon the Google Earth photos, there was no significant change in the ponds, or color of the ponds prior to,