_INSPECTION - C1981041 (48) - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Snowcap Coal Company/Roadside Portals Bond Release Inspection Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS) Permit ID # C-1981-041 Friday July I0`", 2009 9:00— 12:00 Participants:. Mike Boulay, DRMS Dan Matthews, DRMS Tonya Hammond, Snowcap CC Rep/J. E. Stover & Associates, Inc. Jim Stover, J. E. Stover& Associates, Inc. Christine Belka, OSMRE (Badge ID# 182) Weather conditions: hot, dry, light cloud cover The purpose of this inspection was to gather evidence of reclamation pertaining to the pending Phase III Bond Release (BR) on 2.1 acres of reclaimed land at the Snowcap Coal Company's Roadside Portals. The BR request is for the Overland Conveyor area which has been disturbed and fully reclaimed. A surety bond in the amount of$1,646,038 is in place. Of this amount, $10,073.00 is being requested for release. Surface ownership of the mine is Federal and private, the coal mined was Federal and private. The site has an approved industrial post-mining land use (PMLU). Ground conditions were dry. We began on the south side of the reclaimed conveyor corridor by the old transfer building 42 area. The BR area is a narrow corridor between the railroad tracks and the Colorado River. Undisturbed areas near the river have plentiful Tamarix, an invasive species (see Figure 1). Ms. Hammond informed us that she performs weed control twice per year. When the Tamarix are taken out, other invasive species such as white top or musk thistle usually fill in. The reclaimed area has had only minor Tamarix intrusion. Vegetation is well established in the BR area. Cheat grass (a very common invasive species nearly impossible to avoid on reclamation sites in this region) and musk thistle were growing in the reclaimed area. Piles of driftwood were present on the reclaimed area. This is evidence of recent high flood water. A permanent road runs parallel to the train tracks on the east (river) side. The Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) uses this road. A short narrow swath of vegetation by the road and train tracks appears to have been sprayed and is dead / dying (see Figure 2). Ms. Hammond stated that she did not spray this area and is not aware of what happened but agrees it looks as though it was sprayed. UP has also created its own turn around north of the established turn around and occasionally uses the northern most portion of this BR area for storing materials such as railroad ties. No material was present at the time of inspection; however, vegetation was not as well established there (see Figure 3). While minor problems do exist on this site (as noted above), they are largely due to UP activities which Snowcap Coal Company cannot control. Furthermore, I do not believe they are significant enough to hinder erosion control provided by vegetation in this area. Vegetation has established