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<br /> <br /> <br />• III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII <br />sss <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY <br />Depanmem n( Nalu ral Resources <br />1 713 Sherman 51., Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Phone: (3031 Bh6-1567 <br />FA\: (3031 812.8106 <br />June 7, 1995 <br />TO: Larry Routten <br />From: Tony Waldron <br />I~~~ <br />DEPARTMENT OF <br />NATURAL <br />RESOURCES <br />Roy Romer <br />Governor <br />lames 5 Lochhead <br />E~PCUIive DIrPClO! <br />Michael B. Long <br />RE: Mountain Coal Company, Permit No. C-80-007, Notice of Violaf~3'PSr4rtP°°' <br />C-95-016 <br />This information is presented to assist you in conducting your <br />proposed penalty assessment for Notice of Violation C-95-016 which <br />was issued to Mountain Coal Company's West Elk Mine on May 26, <br />1995. The violation was issued for: Failure to construct and <br />maintain appropriate and required sediment control measures to <br />reduce erosion and to control sediment; Failure to maintain <br />required ditches to convey runoff from the fill surface and; <br />Failure to separately remove and segregate all topsoil prior to <br />disturbance of areas affected by mining operations. <br />All of these violations occurred at the Lone Pine Gulch ventilation <br />fan site which is located approximately 4 miles west of the main <br />facilities area. Development waste was generated during <br />construction of the fan portal and is being disposed of on site in <br />a development waste pile located approximately 200 yards west of <br />the portal. This waste pile is where the violations cited above <br />occurred. They are described in more detail below. <br />The fan site is located in steep terrain and installing extensive <br />sediment control structures is somewhat prohibitive. For this <br />reason, this site was permitted as a small area exemption with the <br />understanding that silt fences would be installed at various <br />locations below the disturbed areas which include: the main fan <br />bench, a topsoil stockpile and the waste pile. While conducting an <br />inspection on April 25, 1995 I discovered that the silt fence was <br />improperly installed at the waste pile and below the fan bench. <br />The problem was that the bottom of the fence was not "Keyed" into <br />the soil, thereby allowing disturbed area runoff to flow under the <br />fence unfiltered. The topsoil stockpile was also not keyed into <br />the soil but had been anchored at the base of the fence by folding <br />soil onto the silt fence base. Although this is also incorrect, it <br />was functioning by forcing any runoff from this area to be filtered <br />through the fence. <br />The operator indicated that based on their SAE demonstration, the <br />silt fence was not even necessary but just an additional <br />precaution. This was further demonstrated by showing me the SAE <br />