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STATE OF COLORADO DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY Department of Natural Resources 131 } tihcrm~n 51., Room ? 15 II~ Denvcr, Colorado H1R03 Phunc: (103) Hhfi 35h7 FA%. 111111 H 11~H10h DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Rny Rnmer SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT JUSTIFICATION covemnr lamer S. Lochhead Colorado Yampa Coal Company, Eckman Park Mine C-81-071, NOV CV-97-O12 E+cecut{ve oveoor James B. McArdle, Conference Officer Michael H. Long Divimon Onenor The Notice of Violation CV-97-012 was issued for failure to conduct second quarter, 1997, pond inspections as required by rule 4.05.6 (13) Mr. Kent Gorham, of the Division of Minerals and Geology, presented testimony that quarterly pond inspections were not performed as required by the regulations, specifically 4.05.6 (13). The ponds had been sampled for water quality by Mr. Travis Rogers, who is also qualified to do the quarterly pond inspections. The Division provided Colorado Yampa Coal Company with additional time to provide the paperwork necessary to demonstrate that the sedimentation ponds were inspected to the level required by the regulations. Of the 7 sedimentation ponds requiring quarterly inspection, the two MSHA ponds did receive the required inspection as demonstrated in the inspection reports which are required to be completed weekly. The rest of the ponds did not have the necessary paper trail to demonstrate that adequate sediment pond inspections were completed. The Proposed civil penalty for NOV CV-97-012 was: History $0.00 Seriousness $1,000.00 Fault $500.00 Number of Days Penalty Assessed Good Faith $0.00 Total Civil Penalty Proposed by the Assessment Officer was $1,500.00 Mr. Rick Mills, of Colorado Yampa Coal Company, provided discussion regarding sediment pond inspections and comments regarding inspections during periods of snow. Rick indicated that the references to ice cover and snow cover during the water sampling was an indication that the ponds were inspected to the extent possible. Travis is a registered P.E., qualified to do pond inspections and the lack of specific details regarding sediment, erosion, structural weakness, leaks, etc. was just an oversight. All ponds are visited weekly, 2 are MSHA ponds and the other 5 just get the NPDES monitoring. The MSHA pond inspections reports had sufficient detail to demonstrate that the quarterly pond inspections were met.