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~~ Mr. Michael B. Long January 4, 1995 Page 2 Notice of Violation C-94-036 History This NOV was issued because of the alleged failure to construct the Northwest Sediment Trap to the design specifications of an impoundment. As you recall, NOV C-94-O10 was issued for the same alleged infraction. While side-stepping the issue of whether the Northwest Sediment Trap was required to meet the design criteria of an impoundment, Sun Coal and you agreed to treat the matter as a permit defect, given the fact that the Division had approved the Northwest Sediment Trap as designed and constructed in 1986. To meet the requirement to address the alleged permit defect, Sun Coal submitted Technical Revision 16 on July 6, 1994. Based on technical discussions with CDMG staff, the conclusion was reached that the Northwest Sediment Trap could indeed remain in its extant configuration, if several lateral ditches which contributed runoff to the trap were removed. Removal of the lateral ditches would render the trap capable of total containment of the required precipitation event runoff, thereby complying with the design standazds for temporary impoundments. The technical revision was subsequently approved in September 1994 with the requirement that Sun Coal remove the lateral ditches and recalculate the containment volume of the Northwest Sediment Trap. Sun Coal baclcfilled, topsoiled and seeded three of the lateral ditches in late September 1994. Removal of the remaining lateral ditches was precluded by weather. In mid-November 1994 both CDMG staff and Sun Coal's engineer independently came to the same conclusion that total containment would still not occur with the current on-the-ground configuration. On November 29, 1994, I met with Susan Burgmaier and Larry Routten to determine a course of corrective action for the Northwest Sediment Trap. Further revision to the permit was recommended by them, addressing the need for two spillways at the Northwest Sediment Trap. The revision was submitted on November 30, 1994, the day after the meeting. On November 30, 1994, OSM AFO decided to conduct afollow-up inspection on-site and expressed concern regazding the spillway configuration of the Northwest Sediment Trap. The OSM inspector offered to issue a Ten Day Notice, but based on discussions with CDMG management, the inspector was instructed to issue the NOV. During discussions with CDMG management, Sun Coal offered to immediately correct the problem, based on the previously submitted revision. The immediate correction of the concern on-the-ground would have been extremely costly to Sun Coal, but the offer was made to show Sun Coal's commitment to rectifying this ongoing situation, and to avoid further enforcement action. CDMG declined Sun Coal's offer and issued the NOV on December 1, 1994.