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CENTRAL APPALACHIA MINING, LLC <br />McIANE CANYON MINE <br />IMPOUNDMENT INSPECTION <br />In accordance with Rule 4.05.9(14), impoundments will be inspected during <br />construction and upon completion of construction by a qualified registered professional <br />engineer or other qualified professional specialist under the direction of a professional <br />engineer. This certification is for the repair of the embankment of the sediment Pond <br />located at the McClane Canyon Mine. <br />During a routine fourth quarter pond inspection performed October 8, 2004, it was <br />noted the Operator was performing maintenance on the primary spillway line because it <br />had noticed seepage north of the outlet valve on the primary spillway. The Operator <br />located some holesin the primary spillway which were"fixed. After the holes were fixed, <br />the area was backfilled. <br />On November 18, 2004, I was on site and noticed the embankment of the sediment <br />pond was cracking. The cracks were semicircular and were centered on the primary <br />spillway. I instructed the operator to begin dewatering the pond (by pumping) to assure <br />the embankment did not fail. I returned to the office and notified the DMG (Dan <br />Mathews) of the problem. <br />On November 19, 2004, the DMG issued the Operator a Notice of Violation (CV-2004- <br />005) for failure to maintain the McClane Canyon Mine sediment pond embankment as <br />necessary to ensure integrity and stability of pond embankment. The abatement steps <br />were to dewater the pond, fix the pond embankment and submit a P.E. certification of <br />the reconstructed pond embankment in accordance with rule 4.05.9(14). <br />After the pond was dewatered to an acceptable point, portions of the pond <br />embankment were excavated in a effort to find the location of seeps. The toe of the <br />embankment was excavated and it was found to be saturated. The assumption was <br />made that there must be a breach in the embankment to cause this level of saturation. <br />Tree roots were suspected of opening a hole through the embankment. The west pond <br />embankment was excavated in excess of five feet deep. A trench tivas then excavated <br />along the centerline of the embankment another five to 10 feet deep. The embankment <br />was found to be hard packed and dry with no evidence of seepage. The tree roots did <br />not penetrate the embankment very far to the west so they were discounted as a cause <br />of any seeps. There was no evidence of water piping along the primary spillway or <br />through the embankment. <br />Since the embankment was found to be hard packed and dry, the cause of the <br />instability was apparently the saturated toe. The toe of the embankment was <br />apparently saturated over a period of time by the holes in the outlet end of the primary <br />spillway. The following actions were taken to repair the pond: <br />Page 1 of 2 <br />