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III. COMMENTS -COMPLIANCE This was a special focus OSM oversight inspection conducted by Jim Burnell of CDMG on Wednesday, June 18, 2003. The inspection was accompanied by Henry Barbe of Mountain Coal Company, and Mitchell Rollings and Howard Strand of the Office of Surface Mining. The weather was partly cloudy and fair. The site was busy. The inspection began with a review of the West Elk permit to determine the dates of last seeding on the lower refuse pile (LRP) and the most recent permitted configuration of the pile. On the LRP, there is a distinct banding of vegetation. At the top, the pile slopes are dominated by cheatgrass; the middle zone is dominated by wheatgrass; the bottom band is much more diverse. This phenomenon could logically correspond to time from the last seeding event but that wasn't confirmed. Based on shovel work, there is at least 21 inches of cover on the North-facing slope. We were unable to distinguish topsoil from subsoil. A waiver approved by the Division requires 18 to 24 inches of cover on the pile with at least 9 of that being topsoil. The east-facing slope features a very large patch of cheatgrass. There is also a good bit of thistle and bindweed on that slope. The slope itself measured 21 to 26 degrees, compliant to the 2:1 slope permitted. There was no growth yet on the hot spot on the East side of the pile. The area has been reseeded and covered with straw matting. The underdrains all around the pile were dripping. Ditch D2R2 on the West edge of the pile was also carrying a trickle of water. The lower shotcreted ditch (D2R-3) was clean and in good repair all around the pile. Pond MB-2R stood at a level about 7' below the emergency spillway, providing much more freeboard than required. The configuration of the LRP was discussed. Maps of the current configuration were found in the permit as approved, but the permit document still contains some superseded maps that confuse the matter. The cleanup of this part of the permit should be undertaken to remove outdated and superseded maps. At the refuse pile expansion (RPE) many piles were awaiting spreading and compacting. Included were piles of sandstone cobbles that will be used underground as road base. The ditch at the south end of the pile was clean and properly sized, as was the ditch at the other side of the RPE (DRPE-1). The upper cell of the pond contained a good bit of water - to the level of the discharge pipe. The lower cell contained a small amount of water. There was a lot of thistle along the ditch just south of the ponds and a tamarisk in the pond. In summary, there were no off-site impacts noted from the waste piles. Reclamation is proceeding satisfactorally. MCC has a waiver on completion of the final heaped configuration of the LRP to allow them to use the top as a storage yard, so final reclamation has not yet been started.