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<br />f <br />III. COMMENTS -COMPLIANCE <br />Below are comments on the inspection. The comments include discussion of observations made <br />during the inspection. Comments also describe any enforcement actions taken during the <br />inspection and the facts or evidence supporting the enforcement action. <br />several feet deep deposited at the base of the embankment. Water <br />flowing down the road had poured over the road/pond embankment <br />along its entire length. A gully approximately 2-4 feet deep and <br />up to 15 feet wide had developed on the embankment outslope, _ <br />approximately 50' north of the spillway culvert. The spillway <br />structure was not damaged, and the pond embankment in the eroded <br />section is still approximately 30 feet wide. Debris was deposited <br />along the roadway from the vicinity of the pond spillway to near <br />the mine I.D. sign at the lower end of the pond, where flow had <br />split in three directions. The road along the top of the <br />embankment was covered with mud 2-3 feet deep, with numerous <br />boulders up to 2 feet in diameter. The road is essentially <br />impassable to passenger vehicles (excepting ATVs) beyond the lower <br />end of the pond due to the rock and debris deposit. <br />Water in the pond had not overtopped the emergency spillway riser, <br />and there was no discharge through the primary spillway. Water <br />level in the pond was 4 feet below the top of the riser. The top <br />of the pond embankment is approximately 8' above the top of the <br />riser. <br />South of Sediment Pond <br />At the mine I.D, sign immediately south of the sediment pond, one <br />flow path curled back into the main drainage below the pond <br />embankment, one path entered the pond at the southwest corner, and <br />the main debris path continued down the road, exiting the road near <br />the permit boundary gate, and veering off across gently sloping <br />rangeland to the southwest. At the gate, the debris deposit was <br />approximately 40 feet wide and less than 6" deep, with mud and rock <br />from gravel up to 10" diameter. Approximately SO yards from the <br />gate, flow was concentrated in a minor Swale, with alternating <br />segments of minor downcutting (4-6" deep) and depositional areas <br />from a few feet to 40 feet wide, 1-2" deep. Approximately 400 <br />yards below the mine gate, the Swale entered a larger ephemeral <br />arroyo. Another 400 yards below this location, this drainage <br />intersects the county road, and there was a flow path 30-40' wide <br />where water had crossed the road, leaving a trace of mud and a <br />scattering of 1-3" rock. <br />A site visit involving appropriate DMG technical staff will be <br />scheduled to further evaluate damage caused by the storm, and <br />initiate planning for remediation/reclamation. <br />