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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. The NOV abatement was to "restore design capacity of Culverts "D", "E", and "H", by November 9, 2005". I contacted Rodney Head on the morning of October 27, because the weather report called for rain on Saturday, October 29, and I thought it was important that the work be expedited. Mr. Head informed me that work had been initiated on October 26, that he was aware of the weather report, and was attempting to restore the culverts to functional condition as soon as possible. At the time of our discussion, he reported that the Culvert "E" inlet had already been cleaned out, and we concurred that the totally blocked Culvert "H" was the higher priority of the remaining two culverts. Rodney informed me that it would be necessary to take the track-hoe down into the drainage to accomplish the clean-out, and that some of the boxelder trees that have grown up in the vicinity in the last 25 years would probably have to be taken out. I said that if there was no alternative to entering the drainage with the track-hoe, then they should proceed with that approach, and that disturbance to the drainage and trees should be minimized to the extent possible. Roads Road surfaces were generally well maintained, although toward the end to the inspection several coal trucks drove up the haul road (apparently the first haul trucks of the day),. and considerable dust was generated. Mr. Head requested road watering prior to further truck traffic on the road. With the exception of Culvert "H", described in the NOV, other haul road culverts appeared to be properly maintained and functional. Road ditches in a couple locations have scoured and sidecut in a couple locations as a result of recent heavy runoff events. One segment that has been scoured is the upper segment above the outlet of Culvert I, along the MSHA berm. The second segment is downstream of the "in-ditch" settling basin, immediately upstream of the sediment pond. Riprap stabilization of the ditch bottom and sides appears to be warranted in these locations, to prevent further down-cutting orside-cutting erosion. There was some sediment accumulation in the inside road ditch at the road curve down-gradient from the outlet of Culvert I. This ditch segment needs to be maintained to remove the accumulated sediment. The culvert inlet sump at the inlet of Road Culvert "IC' had recently been cleaned out, and in doing so, the track-hoe had been set up on the berm of the inlet sump and reduced the height of the berm. The berm needs to be built back up to its original height. Hydrologic Balance Upland Diversion Culvert "D" and "E" culverts were, respectively, partially and completely blocked, as noted in the NOV narrative. The drainage above Diversion Culvert "A" had been scoured and sediment deposited in the culvert inlet vicinity, but maintenance had been conducted prior to the inspection to restore the functionality of the culvert. The Diversion Culvert "F" inlet was clear, but sediment had accumulated in the small sump at the inlet and needs to be cleaned out. Diversion Culvert "B" was clear and functional.