_INSPECTION - C1981033 ‎(25)‎

• Permit No: C1981033
• IBM Index Class Name: INSPECTION
• Doc Name: OSM Inspection Report
• From: OSM
• To: DRMS
• Inspection Date: 11/3/2009
• Email Name: JJD
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Bear Coal Company/Bear No 3 Bond Release Inspection(Phase I SL-4)
Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety(DRMS) Pen-nit ID # C-1981-033
Tuesday November 3rd, 2009 9:00 AM— 12:00 PM
Participants:
Sandy Brown, Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety(DRMS)
Joe Dudash, DRMS
Kathleen Welt, Mountain Coal Company, L.L.C., West Elk Mine
Ryan Sweetwood, Mountain Coal Company, L.L.C., West Elk Mine
Jim Kiger, Oxbow Mining, L.L.C.
Jim Stover, J. E. Stover&Associates, Inc. (Consulting Engineer)
Howard Strand, OSMRE
I participated in a partial Phase I bond release inspection at the Bear No. 3 Mine. DRMS
administers the bond release process in part through the State- Federal Cooperative Agreement
found at 30 CFR, Part 906.30. Weather conditions were cool, dry, sunny and breezy.
Prior to the inspection I reviewed the bond release application dated August 4, 2009. The
application and subsequent correspondence in the record document that J.E. Stover and
Associates, Inc. provided notifications of the bond release inspection as required by Colorado
Rule 3, Perfonnance Bond Requirements. These notifications included the surface owners of thF
pen-nit area proposed for release, surface landowners adjacent to the pen-nit area, local, State, and
Federal govermnental agencies, utility companies, and the public at large.
The purpose of the inspection was to gather evidence of reclamation pertaining to the pending
Phase I Bond Release (BR) on 7.5 acres of reclaimed land at the Bear No. 3 Mine. The partial
Phase I BR request is for structural demolition and removal, as well as for backfilling and
grading of the 7.5 acres of disturbed land. The west side portal area reclamation was not
considered for bond release during this inspection due to instability concerns, and the sediment
control system will remain in place to treat disturbed area runoff Current reclamation liability is
$279,224.00, which is the amount of bond held by the DRMS for reclamation. Of this amount,
the Bear Coal Company(BCC) is seeking a release of$167,000.00. Federal coal was mined at
the Bear No. 3 Mine, and OSM is a co-payee on the reclamation surety bond. Surface ownership
of the mine is Federal and private.
Mr. Dudash began the inspection on the morning of November 3'd by orienting the participants to
the areas proposed for bond release with maps and photographs, and providing some historical
information regarding the mining operation itself. Ground conditions were moist/wet in places
and snow from the previous week remained in shaded areas. We began with the reclaimed area
where the main facilities once stood (see Figure 1). The removed facilities are included in the
BR as part of the structural demolition. The area has been scraped and graded, although some
minor debris remains on the site including pallets, piping, pieces of culvert, and a steel beam.
BCC will need to remove this debris prior to DRMS issuing a proposed bond release decision.
In addition, cheat grass (a very common invasive species nearly impossible to avoid on
reclamation sites in this region) was growing along the perimeter of the reclaimed area and the
DRMS recommended that this be taken care of in a timely fashion. We crossed a bridge over the