Laserfiche WebLink
d. The technical revisions that approved the Golden Eagle drilling programs gave <br />approval for the drilling mud to be disposed of in an approved disposal azea at the <br />New Elk Mine. There is one approved non-coal waste disposal site at New Elk. <br />Pond 4 is not the approved site. <br />e. There were three abatement steps for NOV C-94-034. First, the operator was to <br />immediately discontinue placing drilling mud into Pond 4. Basin Resowces <br />complied. Second, Basin Resowces was to submit a minor revision, designating a <br />disposal site for the drilling mud that was in Pond 4, by November 28, 1994. This <br />abatement date was considered too soon of a deadline so the abatement date was <br />modified to December 2, 1994. The minor revision was submitted by the revised <br />deadline. Third, the operator was to place the drilling mud from Pond 4 into the <br />designated disposal site approved through the second abatement step, by December <br />2, 1994. This abatement date was extended to December 14, 1994, since the minor <br />• revision required in the second abatement step only gave two days to perform the <br />work, and because of a snowfall that delayed work. The operator performed the <br />necessary work on time. <br />f. NOV C-94-034 was terminated on December 14, 1994. <br />3. Basin Resowces, Inc. presented evidence and/or testimony that: <br />a. The drilling mud came from the development drilling program at the Golden Eagle Mine. <br />The drilling mud consisted of at least 95 percent water, with the remainder being drill <br />cuttings, residual bentonite and a small amount of coal. <br />b. Basin Resowces had approval to dispose of the drilling mud at the New Elk Mine. There aze <br />three locations for disposal at the New Elk Mine. One is at the non-coal waste disposal site, <br />which, primarily, is a trash site for solid materials such as wood and concrete. The second <br />disposal site is at the refuse disposal azea, which is for residual coal and shale from the <br />processing plant. The third site is the development waste pile, which had been used for waste <br />rock and coal when the New Elk Mine was active. Since the New Elk Mine is idle, the site <br />is being used for disposal of pond cleanings and other kinds of mine waste that is not <br />considered trash. <br />c. Drilling mud falls more into the category of development waste rather than non-coal waste. <br />Non-coal waste, per Rule 4.11.4(1), includes cash, grease, paint, lubricants, abandoned mine <br />machinery, lumber and other combustibles. Underground development waste, per <br />Rule 1.04(143), refers to "waste rock mixtwes of coal, shale, claystone, siltstone, sandstone, <br />limestone, or related materials that are excavated, moved and disposed of dwing development <br />and prepazation of azeas incident to underground mining activities." <br />d. Basin believes that the development waste pile was the appropriate location for disposal of <br />drilling mud. Since the development waste pile drains to Pond 4, Basin believed that it was <br />safer and more environmentally prudent to place the drilling mud directly into Pond 4, rather <br />than on top of the pile. Placement of the drilling mud on top of the development waste pile <br />could have caused stability problems within the pile and contributed to additional sediment <br />into Pond 4. <br />