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iii iiiiiiiiiiiuiii STATE OF COLC~l~~O DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY Department of Nalu ral Fesources 13I 3 Sirrrn i.~n 51.. Room :15 Genv~r. Ci: 9J203 Pltune: i3U it 9Gfi-;567 F.9%: , 31131 93'-9106 February 5, 1993 Mr. Karl Koehler Cyprus Orchard Valley Coal Corporation P.O. Box 1299 Paonia, CO 81428 ~i ~F~b ~ 1 Ruv Romer Guvernor ~tlichael9 Long D iv~swn Director Re: Orchard Valley Mine, File No. C-81-038, Assessment Conference for Notice of Violation No. C-92-035 Dear Mr. Koehler: I convened a telephone assessment conference to review NOV C-92-035 on Thursday, February 4, 1993. You and Brad Bourquin represented COVCC in the conference and Steve Shuey represented the Division. At your request, I granted a continuance of the conference. The continuance is granted due to the fact that the Division has approved an abatement extension until May 23, 1993, based on recognition that weather conditions have precluded complete removal of coal fines from the topsoiled outslope, one of three specified abatement requirements. Inspection report records and information regarding snowfall events in your letter of January 15, 1993, document that muddy conditions or snow cover have persisted for essentially the entire period since issuance on the NOV. Scheduling of a work crew to initiate the clean-up work on a Saturday to take advantage of a brief period of clear weather in early December appears to be worthy of good faith consideration, pursuant to Rule 5.04.5(d). However, since the abatement has not been completed, a good faith reduction cannot be granted at this time. In order to allow COVCC an opportunity to complete the abatement and receive consideration for good faith, the conference is continued until Friday, March 12, 1993, at 9:00 A.M. If the NOV is fully abated and terminated prior to that time, I will recommend a good faith reduction of $250.00 to reflect the extraordinary effort demonstrated in attempting to abate the violation in the shortest possible time. The continuation cannot be extended beyond the designated date since the Division is required to fix the civil penalty within 120 days of NOV issuance, with an allowance of 10 days after the close of the conference for the operator to sign the settlement agreement if he so chooses.