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<br />NOV C-96-013 <br />West Elk Mine <br /> <br />This NOV was issued for failure to salvage subsoil., failure to salvage subsoil in a manner <br />so as to protect its physical and chemical properties, and failure to obtain approval for the <br />location of a subsoil stockpile. <br />HISTORY <br />No NOV's have been issued at this mine during the past twelve months. No penalty is <br />assessed for history. <br />SERIOUSNESS <br />Refuse material was spread over an area which still contained subsoil which could have <br />been salvaged for later use as cover material on the refuse pile. Placing adequate cover on <br />reclaimed coal refuse piles is a critical part of an underground mine's reclamation plan. <br />Failure to salvage required cover material is a potentially serious problem. <br />If subsoil was being salvaged by a dozer while ground conditions were wet enough to cause <br />the dozer to get stuck, the physical characteristics of the subsoil were probably being <br />harmfully altered. Compaction and destruction of soil structure can result in these <br />circumstances. The operator contends that ground conditions were not wet, but that the <br />dozer got stuck in a wet ditch which it was crossing. This discrepancy may need to be <br />resolved during an assessment conference. For purposes of this penalty assessment, I <br />presume subsoil was not salvaged so as to protect its physical characteristics. <br />It is not apparent, from the NOV file, that use of the unpermitted stockpile caused any <br />environmental problems; however, the potential for problems due to loss of cover material <br />as a result of mixing it with refuse during rehandling was created. <br />$1250 is assessed for a high degree of seriousness associated with the loss of and/or damage <br />to cover material for a coal refuse pile. <br />