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III IIIIIIIIIIIII III <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />131 }Sherman A., Room 21 i <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Phone: 1303) 866-3567 <br />FAX: 1303)832-8106 <br />DATE: May 5, 1999 <br />DIVISION OI <br />MINERALS <br />GEOLOGY <br />RECLAMATION <br />MINING•SAFETY <br /> Bill Owens <br />TO: Dan Hernandez c°ver"°r <br /> creg E. w,irner <br /> Executive Director <br />^ <br />FROM: Joe Dudash ' <br />\ <br />I ) Michael B. Long <br />~~~ <br /> Y77• <br />Division Direa°r <br />RE: Request For ro osed Civil Penalty Assessment, NOV CV-99-004, Bowie No. <br />2 Mine, Permit N o. C-96-083, Bowie Resources Limited <br />I am requesting that you perform a proposed civil penalty assessment for Notice of Violation <br />CV-99-004. This NOV was issued to the Bowie No. 2 Mine on April 15, 1999 for failure to <br />construct the permanent coal mine refuse pile according to the Regulations and the approved <br />plan. <br />This issue was initiated by observations made by myself during a field inspection of the refuse <br />pile on February 24, 1998 (A copy of the inspection report and photographs aze in the NOV file). <br />During that inspection, [noted that the operator had begun the placement of coal refuse onto the <br />newly constructed coal refuse pile. The amount of placed material was about 20 feet high at the <br />outslope crest of the pile at that time. I also noted that the material on top of the coal refuse pile <br />was rather wet and that subsoil was being mixed in with the wet coal refuse material. <br />The operator stated at that time that subsoil material was being mixed in with the wet coal refuse <br />in order to dry out the mix. I asked if compaction testing showed that the compaction was in <br />compliance. The operator responded that no compaction testing had been performed to date, but <br />that one was planned soon. During the inspection, I stated that I was concerned about the wet <br />coal refuse material. the addition of subsoil to the coal refuse material and the lack of <br />compaction testing for the first 20 feet of the coal refuse pile. At that time, I said that I would <br />look into this matter. <br />The Division sent a letter, dated March 4, 1998, in which we expressed our concerns about how <br />the coal refuse material was being placed and with the lack of compaction testing (A copy of this <br />letter is in the NOV file). The ftrst compaction testing was performed on March 5, 1998. That <br />test, and subsequent compaction tests, have shown that those lifts in the coal refuse pile have <br />been compacted in compliance with the Rules. However, the Division still had concerns about <br />the first 20 feet of placed material. <br />The discussion continued over the ensuing months. Finally, at the Division's request, the <br />operator performed compaction testing of the bottom 20 feet of placed material. Three boreholes <br />