Laserfiche WebLink
Bowie No. 2 Mine, p~.3 <br />Mr. Bear referred us to the permittee's consultant regarding stip. no. 10, USDA / USFS water <br />rights documentation requirements. Use of Delta County Road 4365 and CDOT permit <br />requirements for a temporary access road referred to in permit stip. no. 13 was not necessary <br />according to Mr. Bear. Colorado Division of Wildlife concern(s) with the proposed woody plant <br />stem density standard for reclaimed lands at the no. 2 mine found in stip. no. 14 apparently is <br />still outstanding. This concluded our office records review, and summarizes our discussions on <br />the current status of permit conditions held at the conclusion of the inspection. <br />Mr. Dudash conducted a thorough field inspection and we reviewed all disturbed areas. We did <br />not inspect the mine no. 1 loadout, as its transfer to the mine no. 2 permit azea is not final until <br />appropriate bond transfer is completed as noted above. We began uphill from the main office / <br />portal pad and facilities area, and made inspection stops and observations progressing downhill, <br />and through the new railroad loadout facility. We began at the upper fan bench where surface <br />water runoff was not a problem, the surrounding slopes appear stable, we noted water at the seep <br />area, and an exploration borehole was being drilled to help define coal outcrop burn extent. The <br />main office /facilities pad was well organized and maintained and all ditches inspected were <br />stable. As noted above the underground water sump was being dewatered by pumping to the <br />surface and the runoff being diverted to pond b, as the normal mine water discharge pond c was <br />being cleaned out. Current underground water pumping is only occurring once per week. <br />Haulroad culverts observed were clear and the topsoil stockpile adjacent to the haulroad was well <br />vegetated and stable. Extensive deer use of the pile was evident. <br />Pond c was being cleaned out as noted above, and Mr. Dudash discussed the requirements to <br />reconstruct and re-certify the disturbance to the pond embankment necessary to access the <br />sediment clean out area. Pond d clean out will begin in approx. one week. The topsoil stockpile <br />adjacent to pond d is stable, and we observed the sediment pond fines being deposited and mixed <br />with coal waste pile material to facilitate drying, handling, and compaction on the current waste <br />pile disposal area- It appeazed the permittee was doing a good job with this disposal activity. The <br />large topsoil pile east of the waste pile was also stable and well protected /vegetated. <br />We briefly inspected the water pumphouse area, which was stable, and inspected pond b that was <br />receiving the underground water pumpage as noted above. Alluvial monitoring wells are located <br />between the pond b embankment and the Fire Mountain irrigation ditch at this location. The <br />pond was not discharging. The coal stockpile outslope was inspected, and associated culverts are <br />clear. Vegetation establishment needs to be monitored on the coal stockpile outslope. <br />We inspected the west end of the new train loadout, which is well designed and armored. The <br />entire loadout disturbance is private BRL land ownership and owned /operated by BRL. There <br />were no off-site impacts related to surface water runoff noted throughout the loadout disturbance <br />areas inspected. <br /> <br />