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Inspection Narrative <br />Page 2 of 3 <br />According to data furnished by the mine, this site had received over three <br />inches of rainfall on Thursday of the previous week. This rainfall had caused <br />sediment buildup in many of the ditches and culverts, and caused the west side <br />of the Reno mattress on the Rock Disposal Area (RDA) and the ditch under the <br />beltline just north of the highway to breach. <br />Mine identification signs, topsoil signs and perimeter markers were in place. <br />Additional stream buffer zone markers should be placed on the north side of the <br />river, however enough were present so that no enforcement action was <br />warranted. <br />Coal from the coal stockpile east of Topsoil Stockpile #1 had slumped over the <br />berm that protected the topsoil pile. None of this coal had contaminated the <br />topsoil stockpile and this material was removed during the inspection so DMG <br />took no action. As the topsoil was not contaminated and the coal removed a <br />Federal Ten Day Notice (TDN) will not be issued. The other topsoil stockpile is <br />an approved Small Area Exemption ISAE). This stockpile was adequately <br />protected. <br />The berm on the north side of the Purgatoire River below the coal stockpile had <br />been damaged by the recent storm and a breach below the stockpile was <br />identified where material had slumped over the berm. This material was <br />retained on the permit area and I could not determine if runoff had passed off <br />into the river. This area was repaired on the day it was identified and no state <br />enforcement actions were issued. Because the area was repaired and no <br />impacts could be identified a TDN will not be issued, however this is the third <br />inspection done in the last two years that has identified problems with drainage <br />control on this area. <br />Ditches and culverts other than those covered by Notice of Violations C-94-019 <br />appeared to be functioning, however many of these were cleaned during this <br />inspection. <br />The reno mattress for the west side of the RDA had been damaged about <br />halfway down from the top by the recent rains. The rock in the baskets had <br />been washed out and the ditch had failed so that material was washed off the <br />permit area. This area was included under Notice of Violation C94-018. <br />Grading on the top of the RDA was being done during the inspection but the <br />front portion was too wet for equipment to work on. This area should be <br />graded as soon as equipment could be placed on it. No waste was being <br />placed on the area during this inspection as the plant was not running. <br />