INSPEC10884 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

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. Main Mine Site This was a complete inspection conducted by Joe Dudash of the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety. Jim Kiger represented Oxbow Mining. The longwall was in operation and a train was being loaded. There were no problems at the East Yard. Mine-related equipment and material were stored in an orderly fashion. The berm on the outside edge of the bench and haul road was in place. The East Yard haul road was in good condition with no problems with dust. The East Yard pond did not have any standing water in it. The gated valve on the primary tube was in the closed position. The emergency discharge pipe was operational. Surface disturbance markers were up. The fully reclaimed East Yard refuse pile appeared to be stable with a good vegetative cover. The sediment pond at substation no. 3 had mud in it but no standing water. The primary pipe valve was closed and the emergency spillway had sufficient capacity. The upland diversion ditch also had sufficient capacity. The topsoil stockpile was well vegetated and the topsoil sign was up. The reclamation work at Gulch A and Gulch C appeazed to be stable and had good vegetative cover. There were no leaks at the fuel facility. No problems were noted at the mine office either. There was a good amount of coal that was stockpiled on site. The coal crushing, screening and silo loading operations were in progress. Coal haul trucks were being loaded for delivery to the Tercor Creek Loadout. There was no indication of fugitive dust problems offsi[e from any of these coal handling activities. The water level in Pond B was a couple of feet above the primary discharge pipe but the gated valve was in the closed position so there was no discharge. The riprap in the emergency spillway was in place. The oil boom was also in place in the pond. A unit train was being loaded during the field inspection but there was no evidence of fugitive coal offsite. There was only a little water in Pond A-1. The discharge pipe was in place. The culverts, road ditches, silt fence and straw bales associated with the alternate sediment control system were in place. The mine [D sign was up. The West Valley Fill is nearly full. There was positive drainage on top of the pile. The riprapped side drains were in place and the vegetative cover was good. Surface disturbance markers were up. This area drains to Pond C, which has a concrete wall in place of an earthen embankment. Pond C was dry. The operator was compacting the initial coal waste placement in the new II West Fill. The dirt road leading to the fill was in good condition. The topsoil stockpile had a moderate vegetative cover and the sign was up on the pile. There was fabric over the underdrain. The concrete-walled Pond E was dry. There were no problems at the water treatment facility. The road to the Elk Creek portal facilities was in very good condition. The water level in Pond D was about 1.5 to 2 feet below the primary tube invert. The self- dewatering primary and emergency pipes were operational. The pond embankment and inslopes appeared to be stable. All four of the cap and powder houses were properly locked.