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III IIIIIIIIIIIII III <br />999 <br />~- <br />DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman SI., Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866-3567 <br />FAX:~3031832-8106 <br />TE OF COLORADO <br />oF'`O~o <br />R~ ~ <br />Nc~ <br />• //((~~~rr~PPP~~~~rr~PPP~~//////llllh <br />~rBT6 ~• <br />Roy Ramer <br />Governor <br />Michael B. Long <br />Division Director <br />DATE: October 29, 1993 <br />TO: Mike Long <br />FROM: Larry Routten <br />RE: Request to Vacate Cessation Order C-93-141; Seneca II-W <br />(C-82-057) <br />Peabody Western has requested that the above referenced CO be <br />vacated. Peabody contends that issuance of a CO was not warranted <br />because significant imminent harm to the environment did not or <br />could not reasonably be expected to occur. <br />The CO was issued for blasting operations which were not in <br />compliance with State and Federal laws. Fly rock from an <br />overburden blast damaged two oil tanks at a nearby oil well, <br />causing an oil spill from one of the tanks. The oil breached a <br />containment berm around the well pad and ran into an ephemeral <br />drainage where it was then contained by dikes which Peabody <br />constructed in response to the accident. Fly rock and mud also was <br />cast onto areas beyond the disturbance boundary for the mine. <br />The Division conducted an inspection of the mine and issued the CO <br />on October 16, 1993, two days after the blast. At that time, oil <br />was in the drainage and "fly mud" was scattered in nearby disturbed <br />and undisturbed areas. Each of the oil tanks has a capacity of <br />approximately 15,000 gallons. The volume of spilled oil was not <br />known at the time. <br />Rule 5.03.2 requires an inspector to issue a CO when observing any <br />"condition, practice or violation [which] creates.... or can <br />reasonably be expected to cause significant environmental harm". <br />The Division determined that the presence of spilled oil in a <br />natural drainage, the potential for as much as 15,000 gallons of <br />oil spillage, and the potential for continued blasting to cause a <br />recurring problem of the same manner constituted both conditions <br />and practices which could reasonably be expected to cause <br />significant environmental harm. <br />