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<br />RATIONALE FOR PROPOSED CIVIL PENALTY <br />NOV NQ. C-85-003 <br />On January 31, 1985, MLRD conducted an inspection of the New Elk Mine. <br />Inspectors were.Greg R. Squire, Brian E. Munson, and Jeff Deckler. Jack Snow, <br />Chief Engineer at the mine, accompanied the inspectors. <br />During the inspection, it was noted that mine run coal was being trucked from <br />the Golden Eagle Mine to the New Elk Mine and being placed in a new stockpile <br />located in an areas west of the New Elk mine entrance road, between State <br />Highway 12 and the Purgatoire River. It was further noted that no runoff or <br />sediment control had been constructed around this area, and that any runoff <br />from the stockpile area could flow directly into the Purgatoire River. <br />Therefore, NOV C-85-003 was written on site for failure to minimize <br />disturbance to the hydrologic balance, specifically, failure to ensure routing <br />of runoff from a disturbed area through a sediment pond. <br />This penalty was assessed in accordance with the procedures set forth in MLRD <br />Rule 5.04.5. The dollar amounts were arrived at after consideration of the <br />following: regulations set forth in Rule 5.04,5, Consultation with other MLRD <br />staff inspectors, and a review of similar past violations issued by the <br />Division. <br />Rule 5.04.5(2)(a) - History of Previous Violations <br />Rule 5.04.5 requires that $50.00 be assessed for each previous violation <br />issued within the past 12 months. <br />One violation, C-84-136 issued on June 29, 1984, was issued within the <br />past year. Therefore, a penalty of 550.00 is assessed in this category. <br />History: $ 50.00 <br />Rule 5.04.5(2)(b) - Seriousness of the Violation <br />This Rule requires that the assessment be based on the fallowing three <br />categories, with a maximum penalty of $1,750.00. <br />1. Probability of Damage Occurring <br />At the time of the inspection, there was snow on the ground and <br />temperatures were very low. Therefore, there was little probability of <br />runoff and subsequent damage occurring immediately. However, in the <br />event of any significant precipitation in conjunction with above <br />freezing temperatures, coal fines could readily be carried by runoff <br />from the coal pile area into the Purgatoire River, resulting in <br />degradation of the water quality in the river. Therefore, over the <br />long term, the probability of damage is high. <br />