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:~ • (Page 2) MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID # M-77-306 INSPECTION DATE 2 1 96 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS TAS OBSERVATIONS 1. A site inspection was conducted in response to a recent citizen complaint regarding subsidence and a water discharge at the mine site. 2. The weather was not conducive to a thorough ground inspection. Visibility was poor, it was snowing, and there was at least 12 inches of snow on the ground. 3. This inspector visited all known vent holes and mine facilities located within the permitted area. There was no visible subsidence near any of the facilities. However, the snow conditions may have precluded this inspector from noticing any tension cracks or earth slumping. It would seem reasonable and prudent for the Division to conduct a ground inspection later this spring, following enowmelt. 4. This inspector noticed at the vent hole nearest the airstrip that there was mine water being pumped into a small treatment pond, which flowed into an evaporation pond. The evaporation pond was discharging mine water at approximately 5 gallons per minute into a steel pipe. The pipe was followed for approximately 1/2 mile to the southwest, then was directed into a smaller plastic pipe down a steep canyon toward the underground mine and waste area. It appeared that mine water was flowing through the black plastic pipe and was being dishcharged into a drainage near the mine facility. At the outlet of the evaporation pond was a white weir box with a staff gauge to measure the water level and corresponding flow. The water level on the staff gauge read 0.29 feet. A water sample was not taken; however, it did appear that a treatment such as barium sulfate was being added at the small treatment pond. 5. Information in the permit file suggests that the operator is authorized to treat and discharge mine water off site under the terms of an existing NPDES Permit, issued by the Colorado Department of Health. If this information is correct, please send verification that an NPDES water discharge permit has been issued to Cotter Corporation for this facility. I & E Contact Address NAME Dave Diss OPERATOR Cotter Corporation STREET P.O. Box 700 CITY/STATE/ZIP Nucla, CO 81424-0700 cc: Lynn Lewis Bureau of Land Management 2505 South Townsend Ave. Montrose, CO 81401 Sarah Johnson Water Quality Control Division Colorado Department of Health Cherry Creek Drive South Denver, CO cc: Lynn Lewis, BLM Sarah Johnson, WQCD Jim Stevens, DMG ^ CE ^ BL ^ FS ^ HW ^ HMWMD (CH) ^ SE ^ WQCD (CH)