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.~ < TR9PPER ~ININGr IpC. III IIIIIIIII IIII III July 3Q 1996 Mr. Joseph 1. Dudash Environmental Protection Specialist Colorado Division of Minerals & Geology 1313 Sherman Street, Room 2I5 Denver, CO 80203 Re: Trapper Mining Inc., Permit No. C-81-010 Response on Accidental Brush Fire Deaz Joe: p~~FIVCD ~G "z 1996 fJIVISI9R (11 h11flBFdIS 6 U6910Qy Please accept this letter as our response to your wm;spondence of July 19, 1996 concerning the above~aptioned topic. Enclosed is a copy of the summary rewrd of the coal blast in question. Also enclosed is Figure 1, which shows the surveyed boundary of the bum area. The coal blast record shows that there was nothing unusual about the way the blast was loaded and carried out. It was felt by blasting personnel that the fire ball was caused by the unusually hot, dry atmospheric conditions in conjunction with a coal surface that had a higher than normal accumulation of powdered coal fines. The coal fines were created by a truck haul route which had been located across the top of the coal. It was felt that the coal fines were ignited by the buming of the surface blasting cord and that the fire ball was caused by the buming of the coal fines and not directly by the blast itself It was also felt that the bmsh fire was not caused by the fire ball per se, but rather by buming embers from the fire ball that made it more than a quarter of a mile to the native brush area. While it was felt that a very unusual set of circumstances combined to cause this accidental bmsh fire, it was determined that a repeat of this occurrence could be avoided in the future by making a more concerted effort to insure that any accumulated surface coal fines are removed before a coal pattern is drilled and loaded. The enclosed Figure l shows the perimeter of the bum area (outlined in blue) in relation to existing disturbance (outlined in red and green), the location of existing sediment control structures (Oak Ponds) and the planned disturbance line. The total acreage of bum area disturbance was 9.21. Of the total 9.21 acres, 1.31 acres were located within the planned disturbance boundary of Permit Map M-10 (the area south of the red "planned disturbance line"). Thus, 7.90 acres of disturbance are located outside planned disturbance. The cost to seed the unplanned disturbance area, which will be done this fall, was included in the ne~v mid-term bond estimate, which was submitted to you on July 25. The only disturbance to the bum area was caused when dozers were sent into the area to doze smoldering bmsh into piles. The bmsh piles were then doused with water from water wcks to insure that the fire did not break containment. Disturbance to the soil resource in the area of the bum was minimal; equivalent to a bmshing operation in areas scheduled for topsoil salvage. The bum area would probably regenerate an adequate vegetative cover from remaining shmb and herbaceous plant seed and root stocks during the next summer growing season. However, to P.0. Box 187 Craig, Colorado 81626 (303) 824-4401