_INSPECTION - C1981008 ‎(48)‎

• Permit No: C1981008
• IBM Index Class Name: INSPECTION
• Doc Name: Inspection Report
• Inspection Date: 6/8/2009
• Email Name: MLT
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

111. 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 New Horizon Mine conducted by Marcia Talvitie of the
Colorado DRMS beginning at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, 08 June 2009. Ross Gubka represented the
operator, Western Fuels-Colorado, and was present throughout the entire inspection.
Hydrologic Balance
• Pond 007, which is now fed solely by irrigation runoff, discharged for three days at the end of
May. Unfortunately, WFC was unable to do the Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) sampling
before the discharge ceased. They will attempt to sample as required if discharge occurs
again during the month of June.
• Pond 008 still has not discharged in 2009. The water level appears to be risincl, in comparison
with that observed in May.
• Pond 011 continues to discharge. Aquatic plants have begun to be established at the pond
edges, below water level (Figure 1). Vegetation on the pond slopes has improved over the
2008 cover, and includes yellow sweet clover, alfalfa, slender wheat grass, and crested
wheat grass. The temporary diversion ditch above the southern side of the pond continues
to transport irrigation surface flow away from the pond slopes and toward the inflow ditch at
the southwest corner.
• We discussed the sampling of surface water for the western side of the; mine. WFC's
approved sampling point is on property owned by Mr. Wilcox, outside the permit boundary,
immediately downstream of the confluence between "Enstrom Draw" (which receives
discharge from Pond 01 1) and Tuttle Draw. Because Mr. Wilcox has stated he will allow WFC
to cross his property only for a fee, the Division and WFC have recently been discussing other
alternatives. Ross stated that in addition, the flow in Enstrom Draw is heavily influenced by
fluctuations in irrigation tail water from the Enstrom property (Figure 2). Ross inquired whether
WFC might be able to eliminate sampling of Enstrom Draw, since they have monthly
analyses run on Pond 011 discharge, and sample Tuttle Draw immediately downstream of
the Pond 013 discharge, where the Draw crosses into WFC property. Nothing has yet been
resolved on this subject; any change in-hydrologic monitoring will have to be approved as a
Technical Revision to the Permit.
Explosives
• Blasting operations have returned to the southern end of the permit (a new cut has begun),
and are once again in close proximity to the home of Frank and Mary Lou Morgan. The
initial box cut was made a distance to the north, and two more recent shots had been
made heading southward from the box cut (toward the Morgan home). WFC: monitors each
shot with a seismograph set up at the Morgans'. As they get closer to the horne, the number
of decks may increase to as many as five per shot.
Topsoil
• The shovel was loading trucks with mixed topsoil from the WFC (formerly Johnson) property,
which hauled it to the Lloyd property for distribution (Figure 3).
New Horizon Mine C-1981-008 08-Jun-2009
-1-