INSPEC45370

• Permit No: C1981053
• IBM Index Class Name: Inspection
• Doc Date: 5/13/1991
• Doc Name: MINE SITE EVALUATION INSPECTION REPORT
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

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LNSPECTPON REPORT
Page 2
said that he was scheduled to receive a call from one of the
corporate employees by the end of the day about the work but had no
feeling as to whether they would order the work to commence. It is
my understanding that the State is ready to take further enforcement
action in the form of permit revocation if the operator does not
comply with the board order.
There is a problem with the location of the pond that has caused some
problems with the design and final construction. The embankment as
it is now, sits dust this side of the boundary line between the
landowner of the mine property and Ute Mountain Ute Surface.
Apparently the operator does not have the right to extend the slopes
of the pond out onto that surface. They are, however traveling on
Indian Surface to and from the bench where the pond is located, which
in this case is alluvial valley floor. The alluvial valley floor
designation would also limit what could be done on that surface. The
Tribe also owns the mineral rights for the coal that mined by the
previous operator but as already noted, the surface of that area is
owned through a Quit Claim Deed by someone other than the Tribe.
Most of the old equipment has been removed from the upper hench of
the mine. A fan portal and manway/coal haulage portal are faced up
and openings punched in through this bench. The old workings were
also through the same opening system. A fan is sitting near the
ventilation shaft but it is not set in place. A continuious miner is
near the manway but again is inoperable. Both openings are fenced
and locked to prevent access. There was power connections on the old
bench for the previous operations but they are not connected at this
time to any of the equipment.
There are no diversions for undisturbed area water for runoff control
above the mine above this bench. The operator is treating all of the
water from the area as being disturbed. That water and drainage
from this bench is flowing into a central drain that goes out over
the toe of the pad. Water is collected in a culvert drop structure
which then drops it onto a sheet metal liner that carries it to the
next bench. That hench which is accessed via an open ended road
system on both sides of the pad from the bottom of the area is to be
the site of a bin storage and truck load out for the coal. At this
time, there is no structures on the pad but designs have been
submitted and approved. Road,..drainage on the routes up to this area
is pushed to the inside bar ditch and dropped dorm to the bottom of
the area where it is passed through a straw bale dike system prior to
discharge. The drainage from the pad area is also collected and
dropped through a similar structure as described for the upper area.
Water from that site along the upper bench water is then dropped
into the sediment pond. The pond has two separate spillways, a piped
primary with a closure valve and an embankment emergency. The
embankment has been mulched and seeded, as were all of the outslopes
of the pads above the pond.
I[ is my understanding that the mine haul road has not been certified
for construction according to design. Mr. Ranney said that they were
not going to require it until such time as coal is brought out over