_INSPECTION - C1981022 (47) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ill. COMMENTS -COMPLIANCE Below are comments on the inspection. The comments include discussion of observations made during the inspection. Comments also describe any enforcement actions taken during the inspection and the facts or evidence supporting the enforcement action. This was a Partial Inspection of the Elk Creek Mine conducted by Marcia Talvitie of the Colorado DRMS beginning at 9:15 a.m. on 20-May-2009. Jim Kiger represented the operator, Oxbow Mining LLC, during the inspection. The inspection was focused on construction progress at the Bear Creek Fansite Facility (as approved under TR-60), and also included a drive further up the valley to observe the condition of various methane ventilation boreholes. The weather was sunny and mild. Roads • The condition of the Bear Creek Road that provides access to the Fansite Facility was greatly improved over what existed during the previous month's inspection. • Jim Kiger said that more of the material that had been pushed over the side will be pulled back up to the roadway, and additional wattles will be installed. In addition, the disturbed slopes will be seeded by the summer employees. • The road surface was dry and well-graded, and our vehicle followed two tractor-trailer rigs to the Fansite Facility, bearing equipment for the electrical substation on their flatbed trailers (Figure 1). Hydrologic Balance Bear Creek Fansite • The flow in Bear Creek was diminished. Snowmelt occurred early this season across the Western Slope, and was already waning at the time of the inspection. • A small flow of groundwater was infiltrating the excavation work at the Fansite borehole. This water was being pumped to the ditch that bounds the eastern side of the pad area. Due to the fine-grained nature (shale) of the material that is being bored through, the water did contain visible suspended solids (Figure 2). In order to address this, the operator had installed a series of BMPs (wattles) along the ditch as it proceeded south toward Bear Creek (Figure 3). Jim Kiger directed the project manager to enlarge the sumps at the upstream end, and said they may also add a flocculating agent to accelerate the settling time of clay-sized particles. Methane Ventilation Boreholes • A generalized diagram for degassification (methane ventilation) well sites is found on Sheet 4 of Map 2.05-M4 in the permit application package. Key features for protection of the hydrologic balance are the Clean Water Diversion upslope of the well site cut slope and the Runoff Sediment Control Berm on the downhill side. • Of the sites observed from a distance, downslope erosion protection BMPs were visible for GVB LW09-05, LW 10-05, and LW 11-03. • The installation of BMPs downslope of GVB LW07-02 and LW08-02 could not be verified during this site visit; a follow-up inspection will be conducted for that purpose. Elk Creek Mine C-1981-022 20-May-2009 -1-