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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 inspection <br />and the facts or evidence supporting the enforcement action. <br />This was a partial inspection conducted by Tom Kaldenbach and David Berry of the Colorado Division <br />of Minerals and Geology. No one else was present. The site was covered with approximately one <br />foot of melting snow. <br />HYDROLOGIC BALANCE <br />Sedimentation Pond <br />The water level in the pond was an estimated 4 feet deep in the center of the pond and appeared to <br />be approaching the point of discharge through the dewatering pipe that extends through the <br />embankment. (This pond rarely holds more than a foot or so of water and is not known to have <br />previously discharged.) <br />An unidentifiable, bright orange-colored sludge substance was found in the side channel of Trout <br />Creek below the outslope of the pond's embankment. This sludge extended over a distance of <br />approximately 275 feet in the 4 or 5-foot wide side channel. Water in the side channel was less than <br />one foot deep and was barely flowing in a downstream direction. Water could have backed up into the <br />side channel from the side channel's downstream end where it enters the creek's main channel. Flow <br />in the main channel appeared to exceed 50 cfs. <br />The sludge appeared to be ponded in the deeper pools of the side channel. In places it was found on <br />the bank of the channel a few inches above the existing water level, possibly indicating deposition <br />when the water level had been slightly higher. In some places the sludge appeared to have either <br />seeped out of the gravels lining the bank below the pond embankment or washed up into the rocks <br />from the side channel. <br />The sludge varied in its concentration from place to place in the side channel but was uniformly <br />orange in color. In some places small particles of the sludge were seen floating in a downstream <br />direction. Although snowcover limited investigation, sludge was not evident in the main channel of <br />Trout Creek either next to the side channel or downstream from the side channel. <br />A hand-held pH meter was calibrated and then used to measure the pH of water in the side channel <br />where sludge was present and in the water flowing in the adjacent main channel of Trout Creek; water <br />temperature was also measured. The pH was 7.2 in the side channel and 8.0 in the main channel. <br />The temperature was 5 °C at both locations. Water samples were also taken from the side channel <br />location. This location was approximately 30 feet upstream from the pond's dewatering pipe on the <br />embankment outslope. The water samples were immediately taken to ACZ Laboratories, Inc. in <br />Steamboat Springs. <br />Monitoring Wells <br />The new downgradient well on the Baumgartel's land had a cap on it and appeared to be in good <br />condition. (The new upgradient monitoring well is to be installed in the spring.) <br />Page 3 <br />