ENFORCE26170

• Permit No: C1991078
• IBM Index Class Name: Enforcement
• Doc Date: 2/22/2005
• Doc Name: Request for Proposed Civil Penalty
• From: Dan Hernandez
• To: Sandy Brown
• Violation No.: CV2005001
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

STATE OF COLORADO
DIVISION OE MINERALS AND GEOLOGY
Department of Natural Resources
7373 Sherman St., Room 275
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
Date: Februazy 22, 2005
To: Sandy Brown, Civil Penalty Assessment Officer
From: Dan Hernandez ~ ` a'
RE: Request for Proposed Civil Penalty, The Hamilton Mine
Honeywood Coal Company, C-91-078
NOV C-2005-001
COLORADO
DIVISION O F
MINERALS
GEOLOGY
RECLAMATION•M INING
SAFETY•SCIENCE
Bill Owens
Governor
Russell George
Executive DirecTOr
Ronald W. Cattany
Division Director
Natural Resource Trustee
Sandy -This is a request for an assessment of a proposed civil penalty. The NOV was issued on
2/1/05. The events associated with this NOV are:
Wally Erickson conducted a partial inspection at the Hamilton Mine on Wednesday,
1/26/05 (his inspection report is in the NOV file). He observed what appeared to be a
breach in the embankment of Sediment Pond B (see photos in his inspection report), with
water seeping (not flowing) out of the toe of the embankment (see photo).
2. Wally contacted me on Thursday, 1/27/05, and apprised me of the situation. He e-mailed
me his photos on Friday, 1 /28/05. Wally and I continued further discussions regazding
extent of the discharge (Wally believed it did not leave the permit area), the quality of the
discharge (Wally did not take a sample, as it was seeping, rather than flowing), and
whether or not he felt the embankment was in danger of collapsing (Wally felt it was not).
Wally worked with Tom Kaldenbach here in Denver to obtain copies of the pond's designs
from the permit, to see if the permit required ananti-seep collar on the pipe (it did not).
I contacted Jim Stover on Friday, 1/28/05. Jim is the consultant for the permittee, and
conducts the pond inspections for the permittee. Jim was aware of the problem, verified
that the primary discharge pipe for Sediment Pond B is manually-operated, and verified tha
the pipe was closed during Wally's inspection on 1 /26/05. Jim said that the primary
discharge spillway pipe had settled into the pond embankment apparently as a result of the
pond filling with water (after a recent snowfall and subsequent warm spell), and the pond
water working its way around the primazy discharge pipe. This led to a softening of the
embankment material overlying the pipe, causing the pipe to settle into the embankment.
Jim informed me that he had already begun mobilizing personnel and equipment to repair
the problem. Jim stated that he believed that water quality parameters had not been
exceeded, as the pond water was merely seeping out, and thus in effect being treated.
Office of Office of Colorado
Mined Land Reclamation Active and Inactive Mines Geological Survey