ENFORCE28841

• Permit No: C1981019
• IBM Index Class Name: Enforcement
• Doc Date: 6/8/2001
• Doc Name: MEMO NOV C-01-011
• From: DMG
• To: SANDY BROWN
• Violation No.: CV2001011
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

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STATE OF COLORADO
DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY
Depanmenl of NaWral Resources
1313 Sherman St., Room ? 15
Dem~er, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FA\: 1303) 832-8106
Interoffice Memo
Date: June 8, 2001
To: Sandy Brown
From: Dan Hernandez
Re: NOV C-O1-011
Sandy -For your benefit as Civil Penalty Assessment Officer, this is a memo describing the
circumstances surrounding the issuance of this NOV.
DIVISION OF
MINERALS
GEOLOGY
RECLAMATION
MINING•SAFETY
Nill Owens
Grn•ernor
GrEg E Walther
EaeNlive D~redOr
Mich, cl B. Lunq
Divurnn Direclnr
On April 23, 2001, Colowyo Coal Company (CCC) submitted TR-53 to DMG. This TR requests
approval to extend the "Section 16 Pit" from the western and southern limits of Section 16, T3N,
R93 W into Sections 17, 20, and 21 (see attached proposed Maps 23, 28, and 29). •
The coal in Section 16 is under a State of Colorado lease (See approved Map 2). TR-53 was
filed in conjunction with a request from BLM to CCC to mine the federal coal in Section ] 7, so
that that coal would not be lefr unmined. Coal in Section 17 is under federal lease C-29225, and
coal in Sections 20 and 21 is under federal lease C-29226. Both of these leases were reassigned
by the BLM to CCC from an earlier lessee in 1989.
On May 15, 2001, at approximately 3:30 pm, Mr. James Kilter with CCC informed me by
telephone that CCC had earlier in May inadvertently mined some coal from Section 17, T3N,
R93W, but was unaware it came from Section 17 until May 15. According to Mr. Kilter, a
snowstorm during one evening earlier in May created a poor visibility condition drat led to
CCC's equipment operators driving over survey stakes that CCC's surveyors had erected in the
Section 16 Pit to delineate the north-south line between Sections 16 and 17. This in turn led to
CCC equipment operators then removing the coal from Section 17. CCC resurveyed the area,
and when the problem was discovered, CCC called DMG.
Mr. Kiger informed me that the amount of coal removed front Section ] 7 was approximately
1000 tons of coal, or about 6-8 haul truck loads.
I arrived at the mine site on May 16, and met Mr. Kilter and Mr. Steve Hilrkemeyer. They both
informed me that the mining of the Section 17 coal is was an oversight on CCC's part, and that