ENFORCE21273

• Permit No: C1981048
• IBM Index Class Name: Enforcement
• Doc Date: 9/29/1992
• Doc Name: TRINIDAD BASIN MINING CO TRINIDAD BASIN MINE PN C-81-048 CONSIDERATION OF VACATION OF NOV C-92-019
• From: DMG
• To: DAN HERNANDEZ
• Violation No.: CV1992019
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

IIIIIIIIIIIIII 1111111 IIII I
STATE OF COLORADO
DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY
Departmem of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman 51., Room 215
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
DATE: September 29, 1992
TO: Dan Hernandez
FROM: Joe Dudash
pF' COQ
„~e3
~ •~~
• +
"
• ]B]6 ~
Roy Romer
Governor
Michael B. Long
Division Director
RE: Trinidad Basin Mining Company, Trinidad Basin Mine, Permit No. C-81-048, Consideration
of Vacation of NOV C-92-019
On July 28, 1992, I inspected the Trinidad Basin Mine as part of the normal compliance monitoring.
I observed that there had been recent work done on the southeast corner of the embankment of
permanent impoundment 15-PL. According to Greg Lewicki, the operator's consultant, a gopher
hole appeared in the embankment several days before the inspection. Water started leaking
through the hole soon after that, causing the hole to enlarge. According to Pete Harley, a neighbor
near the site, the outflow was "considerable". Mr. Harley called Archie Haught, who does contract
work at the minesite. Using a small bulldozer, Mr. Haught attended to the repair work soon
thereafter.
Most of the water that had escaped from the impoundment appeared to have flowed down an
adjacent natural ditch and into a nearby stream. This natural ditch showed erosional scouring in a
six-foot long section situated next to the embankment. No damage to the immediately adjacent
county road was evident. However, evidence of recent grader work existed on the road. A
previous inspection by Dan Mathews and Erica Crosby, on June 29, 1992, showed no evidence of
embankment problems, nor did my inspection of June 23, 1992.
On August 14, 1992, NOV C-92-019 was written for "failure to maintain the embankment of
permanent impoundment 15-P1 ...". The two abatements, due by September 14, 1992 at 5:00
p.m., required repairing and reseeding the damaged embankment area and re-certifying the
embankment. In a letter dated August 25, 1992, received by the Division on August 28, 1992,
Greg Lewicki requested an informal conference for four recent NOV's for TBM, but apparently
forgot to include NOV C-92-019.
On September 10, 1992, a civil penalty of $750 was proposed by Larry Routten for
NOV C-92-019. The informal conference for the four recent NOVs was held on
September 11, 1992, with Jim Pendleton as the assessment officer. It was agreed that the
omission of C-92-019 from the informal conference request had been an oversight on the part of
Mr. Lewicki, and that NOV C-92-019 should be considered. After discussion, Jim Pendleton
concluded that NOV C-92-019 should be vacated because no problems with the embankment were
noted during the two inspections prior to the embankment failure and because repairs to the failure
had occurred in an expeditious manner prior to the following inspection.
JJ D/yj b
m:\oss\yjb\tbm.mem