_INSPECTION - C1981008 ‎(27)‎

• Permit No: C1981008
• IBM Index Class Name: INSPECTION
• Doc Name: Inspection Report
• Inspection Date: 10/20/2009
• Email Name: MLT
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

III. 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 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 20 October 2009. Ross Gubka represented
the operator, Western Fuels- Colorado, and was present throughout the entire inspection. Skies
were overcast,with intermittent rain.
Summary of Current Permitting Activities
• The Division formally issued Permit Renewal No. 5 (RN-05) on 08-Oct-2009. Stipulation No. 16
requires the submittal of Permit Revision No. 6 within 30 days of issuance of RN-05. Western
Fuels did not receive notice of the issuance until 19 October. The Division will consider this
date to mark commencement of the 30-day clock. Therefore, PR-06 must be submitted no
later than 18-Nov-2009.
• Signed certifications of reclamation were received for SL-12 on 21-Oct-2009. The application
was ruled Complete for purposes of filing on the following day. Because 150 acres have
been proposed for Phase III bond release, the Division anticipates that the bond release
inspection will not occur until early May 2010, after irrigation water has been available. Ross
and I discussed the ramifications of the proposed inspection schedule - WFC has already
reported production data for the requisite number of years, so will not irrigate with the same
intensity applied in previous seasons. WFC will consider its irrigation options through this
winter.
• WFC's responses to the Division's Preliminary Adequacy Review for TR-59 were received on
19-Oct-2009. The Division will review these responses as quickly as possible. The scheduled
Decision Due date is 01-Nov-1009.
Roads
• WFC has selected a contractor to reclaim the portion of the BB Detour road that is on Dirk
Richards' property. The contract is in the Denver office, awaiting signatures.
Hydrologic Balance
• When PR-06 is submitted, it will also include a plan and design for Pond 015, located north of
Pond 011.
• The buried pipeline installed recently to provide CCC Ditch water to the Burbridge property
had developed a leak. The installation contractor was on site to repair the damage.
Backfill 8, Gradinq
• WFC has begun to accumulate a stockpile of "Bench 1" material that will be available to
improve reclamation of the far northwestern portion of the mine to Approximate Original
Contour.
Support Facilities
• The material storage areas had been cleaned up during the recent shut-down of the mine
(for scheduled maintenance at the power plant). The area was extremely neat, and no
empty drums were being stored on the premises. A number of large used tires were being
stored.
• A plastic tote and three 55-gallon drums were elevated on pallets off the ground (Figure 1),
but there was no spill protection or secondary containment in place.
New Horizon Mine C-1981-008 20-Oct-2009
-1-