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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. General Comments This was a complete quarterly inspection of the Munger Canyon Mine, conducted by Dan Mathews of the DMG Grand Junction Field Office. Bruce Fowler and Desty Dyer of BLM were on site for an underground inspection at the McClave Canyon Mine, and they decided to accompany me on my surface inspection at Munger Canyon. Mine Manager Walter Whitledge was contacted at the beginning and at the conclusion of the inspection, but he did not accompany on the site inspection. Weather was cloudy and cold, with 4 to 6 inches of snow cover in the vicinity of the new coal mine waste disposal area, along lower Munger Creek. Snow cover became deeper further up the canyon above the disposal area, and the portal bench area was not accessed due to deep snow cover along the canyon section of the road between waste disposal area and the portal bench. There had been no activity at the portal bench area since my previous inspection on November 19, and the bench area and upper road facilities appeared to be properly maintained and stable at that time. The mine site inspection was conducted at 10am., office records were checked in the afternoon. I inspected the reclaimed Loma Loadout site un-accompanied, prior to the mine area inspection, at approximately 9:15am. Availability of Records Required records were on file and up-to-date in the mine office. See "DMG Availability of Records"form attached. Sicns and Markers As noted in the November inspection report, the Mine I.D. signs at both the mine area entrance gate and the Loma Loadout will need to be replaced to reflect Central Appalachia Mining, LLC, as permittee and operator, upon final approval of the pending permit transfer, The final approval date will be December 17, 2004, if there are no objections filed during the public comment period. The operator indicated they were aware of this, and that the signs had been ordered. Operator also indicated that topsoil marker signs and stream buffer signs discussed in the previous inspection report had been ordered and would be erected in the appropriate locations upon receipt. Roads The haul road up to the new coal waste disposal area appeared to be stable, with packed snow on the surface. Snow cover in the waste disposal area was approximately 6" deep, and the road up the canyon beyond the waste disposal area had not been traveled since the snowfall Thanksgiving weekend.