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PERMIT#: M-1980-121 <br /> T INSPECTOR'S INITIALS:PSH <br /> INSPECTION DATE: March 10,2021 <br /> OBSERVATIONS <br /> The Pierce Pit was inspected by Peter Hays with the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br /> (Division/DRMS) as required by the Transfer of Mineral Permit and Succession of Operators process and to <br /> calculate the required financial warranty. The Succession of Operators application (SO-01) was received by <br /> the Division on February 17, 2021. The application was called incomplete by the Division on February 28, <br /> 2021. The Division does not currently hold a financial warranty for the site pursuant to Rule 4.1.2(2) since Weld <br /> County is the current Permittee. The Applicants selected to waive their right to receive a decision within 30 days to <br /> allow the Division to calculate the required financial warranty before issuing a decision on the application. Mr. <br /> Derek Daniels with C&H Aggregates, LLC was present during the inspection. The site was previously inspected <br /> by the Division on January 23, 2020. An inspection map based on the latest available Google Earth image and <br /> the observations from this inspection is attached for reference. <br /> The site is an 112c operation permitted for 56.50 acres. The site has been in final reclamation site 2012. The <br /> vegetation on portions of the west and east slopes is well-established with only a few annual and noxious <br /> weeds. The vegetation on the remaining portions of the west and east slopes and the north and south slopes <br /> is not well-established consisting of sparse vegetation and annual weeds. The pit floor vegetation consist of <br /> volunteered cottonwood trees in the north end and annual weed in the south end. The former stockpile area <br /> located in the southeast portion of the site has been topsoiled by the landowner and will be used as farmland <br /> until the area is mined in the future. The required mine identification sign was posted and the site boundaries <br /> were well defined as required by Rule 3.1.12. <br /> The approved post-mining land use for the site is wildlife habitat. The approved Reclamation Plan states the <br /> final slopes will be graded to less than 2H:1V. The pit slopes were estimated to be 3H:1V or less. No erosion <br /> features were observed on the slopes during the inspection. The pit is located in the Lone Tree Creek <br /> ephemeral stream channel. The mining activity captured the creek and is preventing the historic creek flow <br /> from exiting the site. The south end of the pit floor was mostly dry with only a few small ponds at the time of <br /> the inspection, but typically contained water during previous inspections. The Reclamation Plan for the site <br /> was amended in 1985 from a dry to wet pit floor for final reclamation. The amendment allows for pumping <br /> and dewatering of the pit following spring runoff flooding events. The Operator was to obtain a National <br /> Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the dewatering activity. The Division does not have <br /> evidence the NPDES permit was obtain by the Operator or is still valid. The comment letter from the Office of <br /> the State Engineer during the amendment process dated January 22, 1985 states, "If Lone Tree Creek is <br /> diverted in such a manner that the water in the lake is surface water, than a plan for augmentation would still <br /> be needed to repay senior water rights for the increased consumption due to evaporation from the increased <br /> water surface area." <br /> C&H Aggregates, LLC has purchased the groundwater rights associated with property. The groundwater <br /> captured by the pit will be used to wash aggregate at the adjacent North Weld Gravel site in the near future. <br /> The long-term plan for the site is to create a reservoir by installing a slurry wall around the perimeter of the <br /> permit boundary. C&H stated they are aware of the requirements to obtain the appropriate permits from the <br /> Division of Water Resources prior to pumping water to the North Weld Gravel site and to amend the existing <br /> Reclamation Plan to change the post-mining land use to developed water resource. <br /> The Division calculated the cost to reclaim the site based on the currently approve Reclamation Plan for the <br /> site at $39,000.00. A copy of the bond estimate is attached for review. <br /> Page 2 of 8 <br />