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The proposed civil penalty was: History $100.00 Seriousness $1000.00 Fault $750.00 Good Faith $0.00 Total $1600.00 Seriousness The proposed penalty narrative says, "Actual damage has occurred. Topsoil resources are jeopardized. Potential pond volume reduction exists." Colowyo disagreed with the statement and the penalty. First, they did not feel damage had occurred. Some topsoil went into the pond, but most of it is recoverable. They have always planned to redistribute the pile this summer and there will be very little loss of the topsoil resource. The sloughing pond slopes did not interfere with the integrity of the pond. A french drain will be installed in the, side of the pond to drain the water as soon as weather conditions permit. There is no indication that the embankment of the pond is in jeopardy. Based on the information presented in the conference, I feel a reduction in seriousness is appropriate. Very little or no topsoil will be lost. Pond damage was limited to a small segment on the side slope and on the perimeter slope. The pond continued to function as designed. The extent of damage was small and the duration was short. (The modifications addressing the pond slope instability were issued; respectively one week and four weeks after the wtial NOV.) Fault Colowyo strongly disagreed, with the proposed penalty. As explained in their April 20, 1995 letter, landslides and hillside failures are natural and common occurrences in the Danforth Hills where the mine is located. Because of this, they took all necessary precautions to ensure the topsoil stockpile was placed' on a stable slope. There is no way to predict where a slide may occur due to the moisture conditions in the underlying strata. The winter of 94/95 was uncommonly dry, they could not have anticipated a slide. Representatives of Colowyo do not believe the topsoil slide or pond slumping was related to the springs observed at the fill last summer. The problems last year were over 200 feet away from the topsoil pile and pond. The Division felt the instability noted at the fill last summer were an indication of potential problems on the overall hillslope. The topsoil stockpile should have been moved at that time. Based on the information presented in the conference, I am proposing to reduce the fault component to zero. Colowyo presented information that showing they took all necessary preventive measures W avoid locating a topsoil stockpile and pond on a landslide area. Slides in the area are very common and localized. There is no evidence to suggest the problems noted last summer were indicative of potential stability problems with the topsoil stockpile or pond.