_INSPECTION - C1982057 ‎(33)‎

• Permit No: C1982057
• IBM Index Class Name: INSPECTION
• Doc Name: Inspection Report
• Inspection Date: 10/14/2009
• Email Name: DTM
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

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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. r
Introduction
This was a Phase I bond release inspection of the Seneca Coal Company LLC (SCC) Seneca II-
W Mine, conducted on October 14 through 16, 2009 by Dan Mathews and Sandy Brown of the
Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety(DRMS). SCC and permit area landowners, as
well as the Office of Surface Mining(OSM) Denver Office, and the Bureau of Land
Management(BLM) Little Snake Field Office, had been notified of the inspection. Division staff
were accompanied during the inspection by SCC representatives Dennis Bugay, Roy Karo and
Jay James (at different times); there were no landowners or other agency staff who chose to
participate in the inspection. Weather conditions were cool and cloudy, with a few light rain
showers on 10/14 and 10115, clear and mild on 10/16. Ground conditions were dry to moist,but
not muddy, in most areas, and all portions of the disturbed area were accessible.
The inspection was conducted in response to a Phase I bond release application(SL-2 in the
DRMS filing system) for 1,166.2 reclaimed acres of the total 1,285.3 acres of disturbance within
the coal extraction portion of the Seneca lI-W permit area(an additional 96.6 acres of
disturbance is located along the Tie Across Haul Road, located several miles north of the actual
mining area). The SL-2 release request applied only to the mine area, and did not include any
portion of the Tie Across Haul Road corridor. 119.1 acres of disturbance within the mine area
were not included in the release request; primarily consisting of haul road segments that have not
yet been reclaimed or modified for postmining use, mine shop facilities, sedimentation ponds,
topsoil stockpiles, and stock ponds that have not yet been approved for permanent retention.
The SL-2 application and proof of publication were received by the DRMS Denver office on
August 17, 2009, and the application was determined to be administratively complete on August
27, 2009. No lands within the Seneca 11-W permit area have previously received phase I bond
release (a phase 1 release application designated SL-1 was withdrawn by SCC on March 16,
2007).
The mining portion of the permit area is comprised of two primary units, the "North" or
"Original"permit area and the"South Extension" or"South Area", which was added to the
permit area to allow for additional coal extraction after mining in the North area was completed.
Initial pit backfilling and grading has been completed in all areas; topsoiling and initial
revegetation has been completed within the regraded pit areas. A portion of the South area in the
lower Pond 016/016A watershed has been impacted by significant slope failures along a segment
of Haul Road"J", immediately north of the two ponds, and a lower portion of the regraded spoil
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