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III. COMMENTS -COMPLIANCE Below are comments on the inspection. The comments include discussion of observations made during the inspection. Comments also describe any enforcement actions taken during the inspection and the facts or evidence supporting the enforcement action. This was a partial inspection conducted by Joe Dudash of the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety. Tracy Matekovic, the surface manager, represented the operator. The mine area received more than one foot of snow recently. About 6 inches of snow remained on the ground at the time of the inspection. The ground was frozen. Besides the partial inspection, soil cover and topsoil depths were measured on the first bench outslope of gob pile no. 2. The operator has just finished moving the longwall equipment to a new longwall panel. Main Mine The paved main haul road was in good condition and clear of snow. The guazd rail was in place. There was only a moderate amount of coal stockpiled at the coal stockpile bench next to the highway. The coal was behind the stockpile bench outer berm. There were no fugitive dust problems offsite or coal fines being tracked onto the highway. There was a little ice-covered water in Pond B. The float and flexible hose were attached to the primary discharge pipe. The operator has continued to channel a portion of Deer Trail Ditch into 8 inch pvc pipe next to Pond B. There were no highwall problems at the B-seam portal bench. The bench outslope appeared to be stable, as was the excess material storage area across the haul road from the B-seam portal bench. There was a moderate amount of coal stockpiled on the D-seam portal bench. No fuel leaks were observed at the fuel facility. Gob Stockpile Area The main gob pile haul road was frozen and in good condition. The outside road berm was functional. There was only snow in Pond D while Pond C had some ice-covered water in it below the primary discharge pipe. The Pond C float for the primary dischazge hose was in place. There was no activity on gob pile no. 2. The pile outslopes were covered in snow but the top of the pile was free of any snow cover. There was positive drainage on top of the pile. The adjacent coverfill stockpile was covered in snow. There was a little ice-covered water in Pond F, well below the discharge level. Gob Pile No. 2 Soil Cover Denths Eight soil test pits were dug by excavator on the first bench outslope of gob pile no. 2. Subsoil cover depths and topsoil cover depths were measured. The location of the soil test pits and the measurement results aze shown on the next page. The permit application requires that coal refuse on gob pile no. 2 be covered with at least 3 feet of suitable subsoil material and at least 12 inches of topsoil. The results show that the subsoil depths meet the permit requirements but that the topsoil depths are not in compliance. Additional grading of the topsoil needs to be done to ensure that the topsoil cover is at least 12 inches deep uniformly over the gob pile outslope. Once this rework has been done, additional depth testing will be performed.