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- ~ III IIIIIIIIIIIII III sTaTL~bF COLORADO <br />MINED LAND RECLAMATION DIVISION <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver. CO 80203 <br />303 8663567 <br />FAx~303 832-8106 <br />June 29, 1992 <br />OF' ~~(O <br />•R~~Y f <br />v- <br />~ rH 76 ~ <br />Roy Romer. <br />Governor <br />Michael B. Long, <br />Division Director <br />Dr. W.D. Corley, Jr. <br />The Corley Company <br />P.0. Box 1821 <br />Colorado Springs, CO 80901 <br />RE: Diversion Ditch/Access Road, Citizen's Complaint, G.E.C. Minerals, The G.E.C. <br />Strip Mine, West Pit, Permit C-81-037 <br />Dear Dr. Corley: <br />The Division has proceeded in its investigation of your concerns about the diversion <br />ditch/access road northeast of Sediment Pond D and the West Pit. We have reviewed <br />photos borrowed from Energy Fuels Coal, Inc. These photos were taken on August 22, <br />1985; December 31, 1986; January 2, 1988; January 4, 1989; June 29, 1990; <br />December 27, 1990; and June 4, 1991. <br />Your April 25, 1992 letter alleges that Harrison Western converted a diversion ditch <br />into an access road in 1990. The Division sent a letter to you on May 27, 1992 <br />indicating that the maps in the Division's copy of the G.E.C. permit did not <br />delineate any ditch in that location, although there was an access road in that area. <br />The objective of our review of the E.F.C.I. photos was to identify if a ditch had <br />been present prior to October, 1990, and if erosion following October, 1990, was <br />exacerbated by Harrison Western's maintenance of the West Pit. The photos did not <br />affirm that there was a ditch on the road. The photos did show a steady progression <br />of erosion above and below the road between 1988 and 1991. Ravelling below the east <br />leg of the road and a long gulley in Overburden Stockpile No. 2 first definitively <br />appeared in the January 4, 1989, photo, suggesting that precipitation during the <br />1988 calendar year was erosive at the site. The gullies above and below the road <br />did not seem to multiply or grow significantly between June 29, 1990 and June 4, <br />1991, the period in which Hdrri50n Western did their work. <br />Comparison of the June 29, 1990 and December 27, 1990, photos did indicate that <br />maintenance work had indeed occurred in the West Pit, as rock check dams and straw <br />bales were visible on the December photo. In addition, vegetation along tie road <br />appeared to have been removed, suggesting tha passage of some kind of blade. The <br />June 4, 1991 photo further indicated that the southern portion of the road had been <br />extended around the south side of the pond. <br />In conclusion, minor road work was performed between June 29, 1990, and December 27, <br />1990, on the approximately 500' long access road to the West Pit. The Division <br />finds that Harrison Western's work did not appear to have materially exacerbated the <br />erosion between the top of the overburden stockpile and the Magpie Creek Diversion. <br />The grading of the road was not excessive in its accomodation of the movement of <br />maintenance equipment into the West Pit on the extensively disturbed, unreclaimed <br />site. Furthermore, as described in the Division's May 27, 1992 letter, there is <br />inconclusive evidence that there was a ditch along the inside edge of the access <br />road. <br />