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- ~ ~II II~II~~I~II~~ II~ sss STATE OF COLORADO _ DIVISION OF h11NERALS AND GEOLOGY \!'/r Deparunem ni Nato r,ll Resources ~ 1717 shcrmdn sl.. Room ? 15 Denvar, Colorado OU!U3 D I V I S I O N O F Phone 1303) 866-3567 MINERAL S FAX. (3037 83?-8106 ~ GEOLOGY DATE: Nla 5 1999 RECLAMATION y ~ MINING•SAf E77 Bill Owens Governor TO: Dan Hernandez ereg E. bvalcner 1 Eeecw wz Dueaor FROM: Joe Dudash ~ M¢hael B. Long ~I Division Dheaor RE: Request For P'ro osed Civil Penalty Assessment, NOV CV-99-004, Bowie No. 2 Nline, Permit No. C-96-083, Bowie Resources Limited I am requesting that you perform a proposed civil penalty assessment for Notice of Violation CV-99-004. This NOV was issued to the Bowie No. 2 Mine on April 15, 1999 for failure to construct the permanent coal mine refuse pile according to the Regulations and the approved plan. This issue was initiated by observations made by myself during a field inspection of the refuse pile on February 24, 1998 (A copy of the inspection report and photographs are in the NOV file). During that inspection, I noted that the operator had begun the placement of coal refuse onto the newly constructed coal refuse pile. The amount of placed material was about 20 feet high at the outslope crest of the pile at that time. I also noted that the material on top of the coal refuse pile was rather wet and that subsoil was being mixed in with the wet coal refuse material. The operator stated at that time that subsoil material was being mixed in with the wet coal refuse in order to dry out the mix. I asked if compaction testing showed that the compaction was in compliance. The operator responded that no compaction testing had been performed to date, but that one was planned soon. During the inspection, I stated that I was concerned about the wet coal refuse material, the addition of subsoil to the coal refuse material and the lack of compaction testing for the fast 20 feet of the coal refuse pile. At that time, I said that I would look into this matter. The Division sent a letter, dated March 4, 1998, in which we expressed our concerns about how the coal refuse material was being placed and with the lack of compaction testing (A copy of this letter is in the NOV file). The first compaction testing was performed on March 5, 1993. That test, and subsequent compaction tests, have shown that those lifts in the coal refuse pile have been compacted in compliance with the Rules. However, the Division still had concerns about the first 20 feet of placed material. The discussion continued over the ensuing months. Finally, at the Division's request, the operator performed compaction testing of the bottom 20 feet of placed material. Three boreholes