1983-11-29_INSPECTION - C1981017

Home Browse Search

Coal Basin October 7 , 1983 Gary Fritz, Reclamation Specialist Doug Bowman, Environmental Coordinator for the company The company drift mines by room & pillar and longwall methods out of the coal basin or B seam (#1 mine) and the middle bed seam (#2 mine) . The metalurgical coal is processed at the mine after it is hauled with special six wheel drive dump trucks down a series of switchbacks on part of the company ' s twelve miles of mountainous haul roads to their treatment plant. Mine waste and development rock is placed in dispos- al areas near the prep plant and the #4 mine. The waste disposal area at the prep plant is within a year of being closed because it is nearly full. A permit for a new area below the haulroad for the #4 mine is being processed by the Mined Land Reclama- tion Division and the Office of Surface Mining. The proposal was sub- mitted on September 21, 1983. The drainage systems for the loadout area prep plant and portals were inspected. The company has a series of berms, ditches and cul- verts in addition to 19 sediment ponds for drainage control. In addi- tion several small area exemptions have been granted by the regulatory authorities for portions of the affected areas that are not contri- buting additional suspended solids to streamflow off of the permit. ENFORCEMENT ACTION A ten day notice, #83-II-244-8, was issued to the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division for five violations noted during this oversight inspection. Notice #1 was written for the company ' s failure to haul waste to the designated disposal area. Trommel screen rock was pushed over the berm of the #1 mine pad. This material is mechanically separated from the coal as it is brought out of the mine. After it is separated, the waste rock is dumped on the outer edge of the mine pad next to the berm around the perimeter of the area. Normally, it is then loaded into a truck with a front end loader and hauled to an authorized dis- posal site. In this instance, the loader operator had pushed at right angles to the berm around the perimeter of the area instead of pushing parallel to it. This change in direction would have been OK but the operator was careless and allowed some of the rock, less than a ton, to go over the berm onto the outslope of the pad. This appears to be a common problem for this mining complex because trommel screen rock was noted on the outslopes of some of the other mine . pads. A ten-day notice was not written on the other areas because the date of disposal may have been pre-law. I recommend that these areas be inspected on a more frequent basis to prevent additional unauthorized disposal.