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• (Page 2) MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID # M-86-102 INSPECTION DATE 05/15/90 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS RCO OBSERVATIONS This inspection was performed by the Division as part of its monitoring of 110 permits. The operator was contacted about the inspection and was present onsite throughout the inspection. No mining was occurring at the time of the inspection, although two mine employees were busy with site cleanup during the inspection. This is primarily an underground operation, with mining operations following a continuous 20- foot thick seam of black limestone in a room and pillar fashion. The permit area mostly consists of the bench where the surface activities are carried out, and the access road connecting the county road to the bench area. Surface activities include stockpiling of unprocessed and processed material, and crushing. There were only small amounts of stockpiled material present at the time of the inspection. Fuel and equipment are kept stored underground. The ID sign and markers are present, as noted on the permit map submitted in 1993. Equipment used onsite is mainly a diesel wheeled loader, and a small portable crusher and hopper. Earthen ramps are used to facilitate dumping material in. Surface features, besides the access road and bench, include the limited amounts of stockpiled limestone, a small amount of waste material at the extreme west end, seven portals along the cut face of the limestone, and a power pole with lines and transformer. The access road is partially paved with asphalt. The amount is about one third of the road's overall length, and about ten feet in width. The pavement is old, but still serves its purpose on the steep road. It might be that the approved reclamation plan does not include leaving the asphalt, in which case it will be removed.. The plan and bond calculation will be reviewed to verify whether the calculation accounts for this removal cost, which, if it does not, must be added to the bond. Most of the portals are kept closed. A couple are backfilled against a bulkhead, in a temporary manner. Another couple have steel grates installed. One is open and used as a haulage portal, and another has a wooden closure with door to the interior shop room. The recent bond calculation accounts for the final closure of all portals, either by backf filling or grating. The present bond is $12,000.00, and until. the reclamation costs are reviewed, the bond will be considered to be adequate. If an increase is needed, the operator will have 60 days to provide the additional bond. The operator stated that the landowner may want to become the successor permittee. At the time of transfer of the permit, the reclamation plan might also be modified. The landowner may wish to keep one of the portals open, and use portions of the underground workings as an art-related gallery. These changes will have to be submitted to the Division for review, but whatever is changed will of course affect the bond amount. Stormwater seems to be adequately controlled by the bench surface which is graded toward the cut face on the hill, a two-foot berm along much of the outer margin of the bench, a roadside ditch leading down to the foot of the road, and a series of sediment basins at the road entrance. The basins are periodically cleaned. There is not much sediment or other loose material to erode at this site.