Laserfiche WebLink
transitioned to a pit operation, continuing to use 30-foot-wide benches spaced about 30 feet <br />horizontally. The area of the pit operation at the base of the high wall is known as "Area H". <br />3. On December 2, 2008 at about 7:15 a.m., a large slope failure (also referred to <br />as the "slide", "rockslide", or "failure") occurred at the Pike View Quarry. An account of the <br />failure is presented in a February 23, 2009 United States Department of Labor, Mine Safety <br />and Health Administration ("MSHA") Memorandum ("MSHA Memo"). The MSHA Memo <br />is directed to Richard Laufenberg, the District Manager, Rocky Mountain District <br />Metal/Nonmetal Mine Safety and Health, United States Department of Labor, MSHA, and is <br />authored by Stanley J. Michalek, Chief of the Mine Waste and Geotechnical Engineering <br />Division. The MSHA Memo provides. the Operator's account of the failure from Mr. Chris <br />Usry. The Memo states "a water truck operator on the road near the mine office and the <br />loader operator in the pit noticed the slope movement at about the same time and were <br />primarily alerted by a roaring noise they described as sounding like a jet liner. The water <br />truck operator immediately radioed the operators in the pit to `get out of there.' " The <br />reported duration of the slide event was only about 10 seconds. The toe of the rockslide (the <br />front, bottom edge of the slide) buried the pit haul road and about two-thirds of the active pit <br />bottom. MSHA Memo p. 3-4. <br />4. The operators working in the pit escaped injury. Some of the operators <br />apparently had to climb over rock piles to get out of the pit because the haul road ramp to the <br />pit floor was buried by the slide. "It was estimated that raveling and sliding rock was heard <br />in the pit for about 12 hours after the slide." MSHA Memo p. 4. <br />5. The Operator estimates the slide area is about 550 feet high and about 950 feet <br />at its widest. The total slide area is about 14.8 acres. The slide volume is estimated between <br />1.5 and 2.5 million cubic yards. The scarp of the slide is up to 70 feet high. <br />6. On December 3, 2008, the Division received a call from Mac Shafer regarding <br />the slide that occurred both in the reclaimed and active mining area and Area H. <br />7. MSHA was also notified of the slide on December 3, 2008. Engineers from <br />MSHA's Mine Waste and Geotechnical Engineering Division, located in Pittsburgh, <br />Pennsylvania, traveled to Colorado Springs on December 3, 2008 to conduct a field <br />investigation of the Pike View Quarry. <br />8. On December 5, 2008, the Division conducted an inspection of the site with <br />MSHA engineers. <br />9. The Division also visited the site again on December 11, 2008 with geological <br />engineers from the Colorado Geological Survey ("CGS"). <br />10. On February 26, 2009, the Division sent the Operator the inspection report <br />findings and a Reason to Believe a Violation Exists letter and set the matter for a hearing <br />before the Board at the April, 2009 Board meeting. The Operator requested that the hearing <br />be moved to the May 13, 2009 Board meeting. <br />Continental Materials <br />Pike View Quarry, M-1977-211 <br />MV-2009-012 2