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On March 5, the Colorado Division of Wildlife received an anonymous report that there had been a fish kill on the Purgatoire River. The CDOW informed the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Health of the potential problem. On March 8, 1988, a representative of the Water Quality Division informed Jim Stevens that a fish kill had been verified. On March 10, Michael Kolin, of WFC's staff contacted Jim Stevens to report the situation to the Division. Mike informed Jim Stevens that WFC had been informed of the fish kill on March 8, 1988, and that they had immediately ceased use of the chemical flocculent. Jim Stevens subsequently issued the Cease Order on April 5, 1988. Mr. Stevens observed that the use of a chemical flocculent is not described or approved within the permit. The product "Material Safety Data Sheet" states that NALCO 8852 COAGULANT is toxic to fish. The data sheet further states: "It should not be directly discharged into lakes, ponds, streams, waterways or public water supplies." The data sheet lists a 96 hour static acute LC50 toxicity level of 0.47 ppm for Rainbow Trout. Wyoming Fuel Company's monitoring results (see Table 11, WFC New Elk/Golden Eagle Mines Hydrologic Monitoring Report, First Quarter, 1988) reported the levels of NALCO 8852 COAGULANT to have exceeded 65 ppm in Pond 2 on March 8, 1988, approximately 138 times the listed toxic limit for Rainbow Trout. The CDOW reports that in excess of 800 dead Brown Trout were inventoried in the Purgatoire River in the reach downstream from the discharge from WFC's sediment ponds. Jim Stevens stated that he issued a CO because of the lethal nature of the occurrence for the wildlife within the Purgatoire River, as required by Rule 5.03.2. Three representatives of WFC presented comments in response to Jim Stevens' statement. Lindeke Trumbly stated that the impact was an accident. The flocculent was being used to maintain sediment levels in compliance with the operator's NPDES requirements. Ms. Trumbly commented that the mine had used flocculents under the previous operator and that they assumed the Division was aware of its use. She stated that the accident occurred because a new pump was installed on February 29, 1988 to govern the application of the flocculent. The control valve which metered the flow of the coagulant worked in the reverse rotation from the old valve and the operator unknowingly opened the valve, allowing the entire drum of coagulant to enter the pond at a greatly accelerated rate. David Stout, representative for WFC continued by providing comments describing WFC's response to the situation. According to Dave, WFC was not notified until March 8th, after which he immediately ordered flocculent use ceased as a precautionary measure. Mr. Stout then ordered additional monitoring be performed above and below the discharge points in Ciruela Canyon creek and in the Purgatoire River. He also performed a reconnaissance of the Purgatoire to inspect the affected area, Dave then proceeded to discern what was necessary to complete analysis of collected samples. Mr. Stout eventually determined that only tJALCO's own labs could accurately determine the concentration of NALCO 8852 COAGULANT in any sample. Dave then attempted to coordinate resolution of the situation with the three involved State agencies.