Laserfiche WebLink
. .. <br />U. S. Department of the Interior <br />June 1, 1979 <br />Page 4 <br />B. Violation No. 2. <br />Inspector Damrow apparently issued notice of <br />violation no. 2 based on observations made in the topsoil <br />stockpile areas of the two operating mining areas, which <br />he identifies as pit no. 1 and pit no. 2. In the vicinity <br />of the topsoil stockpile for pit no. 1, the inspector noted <br />an area adjacent to the topsoil stockpile, where equipment <br />utilized to establish the stockpile had run over the ground <br />surface. In the ordinary process of turning the scrapers <br />which had established the topsoil stockpile, the equipment <br />ran over some surface area outside of the stockpile itself <br />and apparently compacted some nondisplaced topsoil material. <br />The inspector observed some spoil material <br />(primarily shale) which had been piled on the southerly end . <br />of the topsoil stockpile in the same basic vicinity. This <br />material was inadvertently pushed against the topsoil <br />stockpile during the period of time the area was snow-covered. <br />The area where the topsoil stockpile is located <br />in the vicinity of mine area no. 1 has been basically <br />inaccessible because of the heavy ground moisture. On <br />Wednesday, May 30, 1979, the disturbed area adjacent to the <br />topsoil stockpile was loosened, and topsoil (averaging about <br />6 inches in depth) was bladed onto the identified topsoil <br />stockpile. At the same time, the spoil material on the <br />southerly end of the topsoil stockpile was removed and <br />placed into the nearby spoil stockpile. In both cases, <br />little of no topsoil material was lost. There has been <br />no environmental impact beyond the mine permit area. The <br />topsoil material being removed as the mining process <br />progresses is now being hauled directly from the new mine <br />cuts onto reclamed mine cuts, so there is little likelihood <br />that equipment will be in the area until final reclamation <br />is undertaken. Temporary seeding to control both wind <br />and water erosion is being undertaken on both the stockpiles <br />and any adjacent area disturbed in the course of their <br />construction. <br />The inspector noticed a potential for contamination <br />of the topsoil stockpile in the vicinity of mine area no. 2, ' <br />apparently because of the proximity of approximately <br />40 cubic yards of "bloom-coal" piled near the topsoil stockpile.) <br />