INSPEC19518

• Permit No: M1979010
• IBM Index Class Name: Inspection
• Doc Name: MINERALS PROGRAM INSPECTION REPORT
• Inspection Date: 3/9/1999
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

(Page 2)

MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID # M-79-010
~ INSPECTION DATE 1/7/99 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS AJW
OBSERVATIONS
This inspection was conducted by Tony Waldron of DMG along with Chuck Murphy of ACA Products
as a result of a citizen's complaint submitted to the Division on 2/22/99. The mine site is
located just southwest of Buena Vista, Colorado along an very large glacial terrace of the
Arkansas River.
This site has undergone some changes recently with respect to ownership and operation of the
mining site. The site was originally permitted by Avery Construction Company, Inc. in 1979.
This company was later changed Avery Structures, Inc. and as a result, the permit was
transferred to the new company in 1981. Later on, Avery Structures, Inc. spun off or split
off a new company to concentrate solely on the gravel, concrete, asphalt and associated
ventures. This company is called ACA Products and on October 20, 1998 a new Succession of
Operator and Transfer of Permit application was submitted to DMG to transfer the Avery Pit
over to ACA Products. This transfer was approved on November 18, 1998.
When the pit was controlled by Avery Structures, the permitted area was actually contained
within and adjacent to other land owned by Avery Structures which was used to operate the
construction company. Since all of the land was controlled by one company, a portion of the
permitted area was used to store a wide and extensive variety of surplus construction
material including large metal tanks, structural steel, old construction equipment,
electrical transformers, old electrical wire, wood, etc., etc.
Prior to the submittal of this new 50, the division conducted an inspection of this site and
cited several problems. One problem cited was to have ACA submit a plan to remove used
equipment and junk that had accumulated on the permitted area over the years when Avery
Structures controlled the entire site or, bond for its eventual removal. ACA proposed to
have the material moved off of the permitted area and onto land controlled by Avery
Structures and/or scrap out unwanted material.
The complaint, which was recently submitted to the Division, alleged that the operator,
through the process of cleaning up the old construction materials storage yard, had disposed
of various forms of waste by burying it in their gravel pit. The complaint further states
that some of these materials were unlabeled barrels that had rusted shut. The operator was
questioned about these alleged activities and did agree that some of the excess materials
from the clean-up had apparently been disposed of in the southeast corner of the active
mining pit, however, the operator indicated that these items were inert substances such as
re-enforced concrete, metal waste, etc. All of this material was reportedly buried above the
static groundwater level. To the Operator's knowledge, no barrels or drums had been placed
in the pit.
While inspecting the site, it was observed that there is still quite a bit of old
construction material that still needs to be removed from the permitted area, although
considerable progress has been made. One item that was observed was a bermed and lined area
approximately 30 feet by 30 feet where various materials such as 5 gallon containers of
roofing tar and numerous 30-50 gallon unmarked drums have been collected for eventual removal
and disposal. The operator was admittedly unsure of the contents of all the containers, but
did indicate that they would be properly disposed of.
The area of the pit where the material was buried was inspected and nothing was observed on
the surface that would indicate what had been buried there. The pit site was also used to
accept construction site excavation material such as large boulders or basement excavation
material. This material consisted primarily of soil, gravel and boulders, although it did
seem to have a small amount of construction waste such as re-bar steel and wood mixed in.
Another unused portion of the pit floor is also used as a staging area for temporary storage
of recycled asphalt.
Rule 3.1.5(9) of the Construction Material Rules and Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land
Reclamation Board states, "An operator may backfill structural fill material generated within
the MLRB permitted area into an excavated pit within the permit area as provided for in the
MLRB Permit. If an Operator intends to backfill inert structural fill generated outside of
the approved permit area, it is the Operator's responsibility to provide the Office notice
of any proposed backfill activity not identified in the approved Reclamation Plan. If the