INSPEC25725

• Permit No: C1980006
• IBM Index Class Name: Inspection
• Doc Date: 8/29/1994
• Doc Name: MINE SITE EVALUATION INSPECTION REPORT
• Inspection Date: 8/24/1994
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

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Minesite Evaluation Inspection Report
Narrative
Kerr Coal Co.
Marr Strip Mine
Permit No. C-80-006
Inspection Date: August 24, 1994
Participants:
Stephen G. Rathbun - OSM
George Patterson - Foreman, Kerr Coal Co.
Charles Fliniaux - Production Supervisor, Kerr Coal Co.
This was a follow-up inspection to ascertain the progress made
by Kerr Coal Co. in the abatement work necessary to terminate
Notice of Violation (NOV) 94-020-352-03. Specifically, the
current status of interim step ~1 which requires Kerr Coal to
begin to transport, backfill and compact as necessary, to
insure stability, spoil needed to return the areas disturbed
by surface coal mining operations on those Federal Lands
within Pit #1 to their approximate original contour.
On July 22, 1994, Administrative Law Judge Childs at the
conclusion of an Administrative Hearing held in Denver,
Colorado set August 23, 1994, as the new abatement date to
complete interim step #1 of the above referenced NOV.
Therefore, the inspection of August 24, 1994, was made to
check on Kerr's compliance with that order.
After stopping at the mine office and presenting my
credentials to Mr. Patterson, the three participants listed
above drove to the Pit # 1 location. It was observed that no
spoil material has been transported to this location by Kerr.
The only work that appears to have been done in this location
since the issuance of the NOV on May 25, 1994, is that Kerr
Coal has bladed the slopes on the West side of the Pit and the
pit floor in preparation for seeding the area. According to
Mr. Patterson, the company is proceeding with plans to
stabilize this area through the application of temporary seed
mix within the next couple of weeks. This indicates that the
company is moving forward with work that would be in direct
conflict with the requirements of the NOV. The "Valley"
configuration that is to be seeded is required by the NOV to
be backfilled and graded so as to return the area to its
original "ridge" configuration.
We next drove south of the Pit #1 location to view the ongoing
reclamation activities at the "720" Pit. Two scrappers and a
dozer were working at replacing the recoiling medium in this
part of the mine. Nearly all of the disturbed area in this
location has been recoiled. According to Mr. Patterson, the
company will be finished with the recoiling in a week or so.
The area will then be seeded with permanent species.