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d~ <br />' Mr. Luke Danielson <br />. July 26, 1994 <br />- Page 2 <br />Statutory/Regulatory Provision Pertaituug to Petition <br />The rules to which the petition relates are Rule 4.05.5(2)0 Sediment Control Measures <br />and Rule 4.05.9(2) Temporary Impoundments. <br />Statement of Facts <br />In 1986 Sun Coal Company revised and updated the water and sediment control system <br />design and structures for the Meadows No. 1 Mine. Due to Division and surface <br />landowner concerns, numerous modifications were made to the system, both in the <br />former mine pit and facilities azea, as well as the former haul road. Modifications <br />were approved by the Division and subsequently implemented. One of these <br />modifications was the design and construction of sediment traps at the former pit area <br />to slow surface water runoff and allow deposition of sediment prior to runoff entering <br />the sedimentation ponds. Construction of the sediment traps was approved under Rule <br />4.05.5(2)(f) which states, in part,"...[Sediment control methods include but are not <br />limited to]...using straw dikes, tiprap, check dams, mulches, vegetative sediment <br />filters, dugout ponds, and other measures that reduce overland flow velocity, reduce <br />runoff volume, or trap sediment..." The sediment traps have functioned well in the <br />intervening years and have reduced the velocity of waters entering the sediment ponds <br />and the need for sediment cleanout at the sedimentation ponds. <br />In May 1994, an OSM oversight inspection was conducted at the Meadows No. 1 <br />Mine. During the inspection, the OSM oversight inspectors requested the professional <br />construction certifications and quarterly inspections for the NW sediment trap (one of <br />the sediment traps identified above). Since the sediment traps were constructed under <br />the Rule 4.05.5(2)(f) provisions for sediment control measures, and not the sediment <br />pond or impoundment regulations, Sun Coal never anticipated the need to have the <br />construction professionally certified by a registered professional engineer, nor have <br />quarterly inspections performed by a registered professional engineer. <br />The OSM inspectors contention was that these structures were impoundments, therefore <br />they needed to comply with all requirements for the design, construction, certification, <br />and inspection contained in the impoundmenUsediment pond regulations. The Division <br />inspector agreed with the OSM inspector's interpretation and issued Notice of Violation <br />C-94-010 on May 25, 1994, though the structures had been approved as sediment traps <br />in the approved permit document, and the issue of the requirements for impoundments <br />had never been raised for the sediment [taps. <br />Upon subsequently discussing the issue of impoundments versus sediment control <br />measures with the Division, a Sun Coal representative was told that the issue had been <br />appealed through the OSM ten-day notice process several times, and that sediment <br />control structures such as this had been held to fall under the impoundment/sediment <br />