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~.~. . iii iiiiiiiiniiiiii 999 blue ribbon coal company blue ribbon coal company p.o. box 58 delta, Colorado 81416 (3031 874-7561 15 June 84 Mr. Robert Liddle Reclamation Specialist Colorado Mined Land Reclamation 1313 Sherman Street, Room 423 Denver, CO. 80203-2273 Re: Report on Flooding, June 7, 1984, File # C-047-81 RECEIVED JUN 18 1924 MINED LAND RECLAMATION DIVISION Colo. Dept. of Natural Resources Dear Bob: This letter is a follow-up to Bill June 7, 1984 concerning the flooding of is to describe further the events of the proposed clean-up operation. Tate's contacting you on Hubbard Creek. The purpose day, the results, and the When flooding occurred May 15, 1984, a trench was dug down the road between the scale house and the lower stockpile. The last week in May all reports indicated that the creek was past its crest from snow- melt, and the trench was covered. Heavy rains started June 5th and continued off and on through noon, June 7th. The mine security reported that Hubbard Creek was rising to dangerous levels just past midnight on June 7th. Aback-hoe operator was called on site around 1:00 a.m, to keep debris out of the mine access culvert over Hubbard Creek. At that time a small amount of water was flowing around the culvert due to flow being more than culvert capacity. The rain con- tinued all night; by 5:00 a.m. debris had clogged the culvert beyond control, and water started touching the stockpile. Julian Mitchell and I arrived at the mine site at 6:00 a.m., by which time an estimated 300-400 CFS was flowing down the road between the scalehouse and the stockpile, and the coal was quickly eroding from the stockpile. The east embankment of the #4 Pond had washed out again, the #3 Pond was submerged, and the #1 Pond had a large quantity of water flowing in from the northeast corner. Additional equipment was summoned and was expected by 9:30 a. m. In the meantime, the back- hoe on site dug around the east side of the culvert to relieve the flow past the stockpile. A mudslide between Paonia and the mine delayed the additional equipment until 3:00 p.m. 18 inches by 4:00 p. m. Hubbard Creek's peak flow occurred around 9:00 a. m. At that time, large quantities of wood were being carried downstream and were plugging the culvert. The creek level was nearly as high as the south embank- ment of #1 Pond during peak flow. The water level near #1 Pond dropped -continued-