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III. COMMENTS - COMPLIANCE Below are comments on the inspection. The comments include discussion of observations made during the inspection. Comments in Section IV describe any enforcement actions taken during the inspection and the facts or evidence supporting the enforcement action. Page 1/2 North Thompson Creek C-81-025 16 July 2009 <; This was a complete inspection of the North Thompson Creek Mine conducted on 16 July 2009 by Jim Stark of CDRMS. The mine has been reclaimed and the operator has applied for a final Phase III Bond Release(a termination of jurisdiction for the site). The Division is still considering this application. The Division also issued a new permit for the North Thompson Creek Mine on 23 June 2009 with an expiration date of 15 August 2013. The weather was warm and sunny and the ground was dry. Availability of records: All of the necessary records were available at the Garfield County Courthouse in Glenwood Springs. The records were checked on the morning of 17 July 2009. See the records checklist at the end of this inspection for more details. Signs and Markers: - The mine ID signs were in place at the portal 1 and portal 3 areas. The signs contained the necessary information(including permit number, contact person and the Division address). Roads: - The mine entrance road was dry at the time of the inspection. It appears as though there has been some work on the road by the landowner, as most of the vegetation that was growing in on the road has been removed. It also appears as though the road may have been lightly bladed, as the minor rutting that was seen in the spring is no longer there. The road remains stable with no erosional problems noted at the time of the inspection. - The access road to the treatment ponds T1 and T2 also appears to have been bladed. The road appeared to be stable and no erosional problems were noted. Hydrologic Balance: - The long pond was in good condition and stable at the time of the inspection. Both the#1 and the#3 portal were discharging at the time of the inspection. The two discharges combined were approximately 5 gallons/minute. There was a large amount of iron staining at the portal discharge point and along approximately half of the length of the pond, but the pond appears to be doing its job of removing iron from the water. - The two treatment ponds (T1 and T2)were both full at the time of the inspection. T1 was discharging to T2 and T2 was discharging to the river. The Pond T2 discharge was also approximately 5 gallons/minute. The discharge was clear and there was no iron staining on the rocks at the discharge point. The pond embankments were dry, stable and well vegetated and there were no erosional problems noted. - Sediment pond P9 contained a small amount of water from T2. The landowner will use the discharge from T2 to fill P9 for livestock use. The pond embankment was well vegetated and appeared to be stable. No erosional problems were noted on the embankment. Backfilling and Grading: - The small sinkhole that opened up in 2007 at the#3 portal remains stable. The vegetation growing on the sinkhole has completely covered the area so that there is no visible sign that it existed. No erosional problems were noted on the area at the time of the inspection. - The backfilled#1 portal remained stable and well vegetated at the time of the inspection. No cracking, settling or erosional problems were noticed at the time of the inspection.