INSPEC29508

• Permit No: C1981041
• IBM Index Class Name: Inspection
• Doc Name: Inspection Report
• Inspection Date: 8/28/2007
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

III. COMMENTS -COMPLIANCE
Below are comments on the inspection. The comments include discussion of observations made
during the inspection. Comments also describe any enforcement actions taken during the inspection
and the facts or evidence supporting the enforcement action.
• Segments of the BLM Coal Canyon Road and an adjacent Public Service Company (PSCO)
transmission line.
No workings of the Roadside North and South Portals Mine were located beneath or adjacent to the Xcel power
plant facilities or adjacent segment of 19/10 Road; as such these facilities would not be subject to potential
subsidence damage. For this reason, the Xcel facilities were not visited during the bond release inspection. Xcel
Energy was notified of the bond release application and inspection, but did not provide comments on the
application or attend the inspection. Mesa County Department of Planning and Economic Development
(Planning Department) and the Mesa County Commissioners were also contacted regarding the application and
inspection, and did not submit written comments or attend the inspection. However, the Planning Department
did request a copy of the inspection report by phone, subsequent to the inspection.
Based on mine plan maps and Bond Release Map SL-03, a segment of the Government Highline Canal in the
SE Ya Section 27, could potentially be subject to subsidence effects. Mine workings from the Roadside North
Portal extend beneath slopes immediately to the west of the canal, along a several hundred foot segment of the
canal. Lands overlying the workings in this location were included in the liability release area, and the potential
for subsidence damage along this segment of canal was of concern to Bureau of Reclamation (BOR)
representatives present at the bond release inspection. The canal banks and adjacent slopes in the location of
concern were walked and closely checked for surface cracking or other signs of subsidence by the entire group,
including BOR representatives, SCC representatives, and myself. No evidence of subsidence damage or
surface expression was observed, though rill and gully features and sediment deposition associated with recent
storm runoff from the steep slopes west of the canal were noted in several locations. A segment of the canal
road along the west bank had been regraded recently to repair storm runoff damage. There is another segment
of the canal that passes through the bond release request area further to the south, in the Xcel Power Plant
vicinity, but no mine workings are located within this portion of the release area.
A BLM road extends up Coal Canyon to the northwest of the CRDA waste disposal areas, within the bond
release area, and a Public Service Company (PSCO) transmission line is located adjacent to the roadway. A
400 to 500 foot segment of the road, and adjacent area where the transmission line is located, were undermined
in the early 1980s, in the NW Ya of Section 28, approximately 500 feet northwest of the Upper Greasewood
Reference Area. The permit does not specify protective measures implemented in this area, but no problems
have ever been noted by the operator or the Division with respect to possible subsidence damage to the road or
transmission line segment, nor have any such concerns been brought to the Division's attention by PSCO, BLM,
or the public. The location was checked during the bond release inspection and no subsidence effects (e.g.
cracks or settling along the road, or tilting of power poles) were observed.
Hydrologic Features-North Portals Area
Several intermittent springs had been identified in relatively remote portions of the North Portal mining parcel,
and are included within the bond release request area. The springs were not undermined by the Roadside
Portals operation, although some of the springs were located in areas where mining had at one time been
planned. The springs were monitored for a number of years during April and May (typical period of flow).
Termination of the monitoring was recently approved by the Division, due the fact that monitoring had been
conducted for a sufficient length of time to establish a record of baseline flows, and also due to the fact that
mining activity that could possibly impact the springs is no longer proposed. Due to lack of potential for
subsidence impacts to the springs, they were not inspected during the bond release inspection.
Portions of Coal Creek (an ephemeral stream) and Jerry Creek (an intermittent stream) are located within the
bond release area. Both creeks were undermined by North Portal workings along certain segments. A short
segment of Coal Creek in the NW'/a of Section 28 was undermined (same general location as described
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