_INSPECTION - C1981019 (43) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Colowyo C-1981-019 3 June 2008 Pg 4/5 Hydrologic Balance (cont.): - The West Pit Pond (NPDES 008A) contained water approximately eight feet below the top of the discharge pipe and was not discharging at the time of the inspection. The water was very murky. The presettling cell was full but was not discharging into the main pond. The pond embankment was well vegetated and appeared to be stable. The emergency spillway is a riprapped open channel. The spillway appeared to be stable and functioning as designed. There were no erosional problems noted on the pond embankment at the time of the inspection. - Sump 2 contained water approximately one foot from the top and was not discharging. The sump appeared to be stable at the time of the inspection. - Sump 3 contained water approximately one foot from the top and was not discharging. The sump appeared to be stable at the time of the inspection. - Sump 4 contained water approximately two feet from the top and was not discharging. The sump appeared to be stable at the time of the inspection. - Sump 5 was full and was not discharging. The sump appeared to be stable at the time of the inspection. Backfilling and Grading: - The reclamation and backfilling operations in the East Pit have made little progress over the winter. The 101 dragline was sitting on the East Pit highwall at the time of the inspection but it was not operating. - The top of the West Pit overburden stockpile still needs to be removed to the new approved elevation as permitted in Technical Revision 63. - The area of the West Pit that has been graded looks good. There are no erosional, problems with this area. This area is a disconnected area that is like an "island" in the ungraded spoil but it gives Colowyo a good visual and a tie-in point for their future reclamation in the West Pit. - The operator has used the Section 4 area of the West Pit as a truck dump. This is the area that was highwall mined and flooded with water prior to the coal removal. The dumped overburden has almost reached final grade along the center of the dump. There was a dozer working the area at the time of the inspection as well. There is still a lot of work to be done but this is a good start. Support Facilities: - The facilities area was in good condition at the time of the inspection. No problems were noted with the area. - The Gossard Loadout appeared to be stable and in good condition at the time of the inspection. No fugitive dust coming from the coal stockpiles or stacker tube at the time of the inspection. Topsoil: - The operator, through the contractor Bower Brothers, was still removing topsoil from the box cut area of the South Taylor Pit. The topsoil is being stockpiled in a new pile just south of the West Pit (west of the Section 16 Pit) and next to the pile above the East Pit highwall. The area was dry and stable at the time of the inspection and the topsoil looked good. Overall, Bower is doing a very good job with the topsoil stripping operations. it