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PQabody Twentymile Coal Company Memo To: Mike Berdine From: Jerry Nettleton Date: September 12, 2006 Re: Sedimentation Pond Coal Fines Discharge Mike - At about 10:30 AM yesterday morning (09/11/06), Dave Wallace notified me of an unanticipated discharge of coal fines to Sedimentation Pond E from a broken thickener underflow discharge line. The line apparently ruptured near the inlet to Pond E, discharging slurried coal fines into the Pond. The discharge went undetected for some time, and as a result, the slurried coal fines built-up in the Pond and discharged through the principal spillway riser to Foidel Creek. Immediately on notification of the discharge, a Surface Crew was dispatched to the pond to seal the riser by wrapping it with braftice cloth to stop further discharge of coal fines to Foidel Creek. Simultaneously, Environmental Staff proceeded downstream on Foidel Creek to determine the downstream migration of coal fines with normal low-flows in the stream, placing anchored booms at six downstream locations in the stream to filter and capture coal fines to prevent their further migration. Coal fines had been carried downstream approximately 2.8 miles by normal streamflows to a marshy area in the vicinity of a road crossing of the rail- line behind the original Ashley Ranch house. There was no further evidence of coal fines migration below this point (based on visual turbidity observations). Water samples were obtained at both the discharge of Sedimentation Pond E (prior to sealing the riser) and just downstream of the limit of the visible coal fines migration. The downstream sample was clear. After setting for 24-hours, the coal fines had settled out of the "worst-case" discharge sample from Pond E, resulting in a slightly turbid decant water in the upper portion of the sample bottle. The initial samples were sent-out today for water quality analysis. Environmental Staff is continuing with sampling of 1