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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 Jim Burnell of DMG, accompanied by Ross Gubka of Western Fuels -Colorado. The weather was overcast, warm, and humid. A heavy thunderstorm had hit the area the previous night, so conditions were quite muddy. Coal was being removed from the active pit. Signs & Markers: Signs and mazkezs were in place and up-to-date at the entrance. Hydro Balance: Pond 7 is full of clear water and is dischazging ca. 600 gpm. The water is mostly from pit inflow, although a small amount (ca. 50 gpm) is from San Miguel Draw surface runoff. The spillway is stable and uneroded. South end of the active pit contains several feet of water which is being pumped into Pond 7. In trying to get a feel for the subsurface configuration at the old Peabody Pit #2, visited the seeps (spoils springs?) At the North end of the area. Water is breaking out there (as seeps) at what would have been nearly the top of the last highwall location. The Swale downhill from the seeps, as well as the intersecting swale, clearly stays damp, as they contain some hydrophytic vegetation and vegetation that is much greener and more lush than the surrounding slopes. Some water clearly originates at the stock pond where the operator stores their irrigation water. Possibly the seep water originates at the irrigation lateral uphill from the permit azea at that spot. Pond S contained 1.5 ft of water -muddy from the previous night's rainstorm. The dam is stable with no sign of erosion. We visited several monitoring wells uphill from Pond 5. Both wells are in undisturbed condition; both have been dry since monitoring began. There was a trickle of water coming down the small draw above Pond 6. Pond 2 contained several feet of muddy water, standing more than 2' below the outlet. There is some rill development on the embankment behind the pond. Topsoil: Topsoil is being windrowed ahead of the pit advance. This soil will be removed and spread in October. Even after the recent heavy rain, the piles are stable and uneroded. Behind the pit are stockgiles of subsoil which the operator separates from overburden as the pit is advanced. This subsoil will be replaced between spoil and topsoil as pit is filled in. We walked the line of straw bales on the hill between Ponds 2 and A. These bales have successfully held back sediment on the steep, sparsely-vegetated slope.