ENFORCE34381

• Permit No: C1981029
• IBM Index Class Name: Enforcement
• Doc Date: 6/10/1994
• Doc Name: SUN COALS REQUEST FOR VACATION OF NOV C-94-010
• From: DMG
• To: MICHAEL B LONG
• Violation No.: CV1994010
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

~~
III IIIIIIIIIIIII III
STATE OF COLORADO
DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY
Deparlmenl of Natural Resources
I J 13 Sherman Si., Room 215 II~
Denver, Colorado 80?OJ
Phony (JOJI 866-7567
FAX.[phone]
DEPARTMENT O
NATURAL
DATE: June 10, 1994 RESOURCE'
Ruy Rnmer
TO: Michael B. Long envern~u
Kcn Sa la znr
FROM• Larry Routten~~L '"'`°""`'D"`'""'
• mac hael N long;
RE: Sun Coal's Request for vacation of NOV C-94-010 0~,-~~~r,none~~n~
Sun Coal Company has requested that you vacate NOV C-94-010. The
NOV was issued for failure to design, construct, maintain and
certify and impoundment at the Meadows Mine. The company has
requested vacation of the NOV on the grounds that the problem
identified in the NOV is a permit defect which was approved by DMG
and has not identified as a problem in the past. After reviewing
the facts and the company's request, I agree that this problem
should have bAen identified as a permit defect.
I recommend that you vacate NOV C-94-010. A vacation form is
attached for your signature. If you choose to vacate the NOV, I
will see that the designs and certification of the impoundment are
addressed in the mine permit within 30 days and on the ground
within 90 days. Here is a summary of relevant information upon
which my recommendation is based.
The impoundment cited in the NOV does not comply with the
regulatory requirements regarding spillways, and its construction
has not been certified by a registered professional engineer. At
the time the structure was permitted and built, the Division's
interpretation of the impoundment regulations (4.05.9) did not
encompass sediment traps such as the one on question. Since that
time, based upon revisions to the regulations and OSM responses to
TDN appeals from our office, the Division has required operators to
design and certify similar structures in compliance with the Rule
4.05.9.
To remain consistent with the Division's position in recent years
regarding impoundments such as the Meadows sediment trap, we are
requiring that the structure be built in accordance with the
pertinent portions of Rule 4.05.9 and certified by a registered
professional engineer. However, since this issue was not
previously brought to the attention of the operator, and since the
circumstances create a permit defect as outlined in OSM directives,
I recommend that NOV C-94-010 be vacated and the problem addressed
as a permit defect.