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iii iiiiiiiiiiiii iii 999 STATE OF COLORADO DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY Department of Natural Resources 1313 Sherman St., Room ? 15 Denver, Colorado 80203 Phone. (3031 866-3557 FAX: (303) A32~8106 DATE: May 10, 2001 DIVISION OF MINERALS GEOLOGY RECLAMATION MINING•SAFETY Bil I Owens TO: Dan Hernandez governor Greg E. Walther //~~ Eneculive Dueclor FROM: Joe Dudash V ~ 1~ Michael B. Long U Division Dircaor RE: Proposed Civil Penalties, NOVs CV-2001-007 and CV-2001-008, Sanborn . Creek Mine, Permit Number C-81-022, Oxbow Mining Inc. I am requesting your assistance in determining the proposed civil penalties for two NOVs issued to Oxbow Mining, Inc. for the Sanbom Creek Mine. On April l0, 2001, I conducted an inspection of the methane de-gas pad for wells CBM-1, CBM- 2and CBM-3, and the associated roads. Because Oxbow was using directional drilling, they only needed one drill pad for three drill holes. The drill pad is located on BLM land while the roads are on private and on BLM lands. Oxbow had told the Division that the drilling of the de-gas holes was an emergency situation. Oxbow had discovered that the ventilation system at the mine was not enough to de-gas the longwall panels, and that these de-gas holes were needed quickly. This was Oxbow's first experience with de-gas holes at the mine site. Unfortunately, the road conditions leading to the drill site were horrific, according to Oxbow. The road was very steep in one spot and they had to drive through a wet meadow area. The conditions worsened as the weather warmed up. Vehicles were getting stuck in deep mud. The driller was complaining of the delays and the methane was building up in the mine. Oxbow had to improve some roads and construct some new ones. They submitted a TR for the purpose of constucting the new light-use road segments to avoid the steep slope and the meadow. The Division approved this revision in a timely manner and Oxbow began the new road construction. They also needed to improve the conditions on the existing road segments they would continue to use. Muddy, wet conditions at the site complicated matters. For the lower road improvements, Oxbow decided to excavate down to dry subsoil or bedrock and side cast the saturated mud material along the road. In doing so, there was no segregation of topsoil from subsoil. In addition, there were no sediment control structures in place to protect the side cast soil from erosion. A considerable amount of soil material was side cast. However, at the time of the inspection, there was no erosional gullying of this side cast material.