_INSPECTION - C1984067 ‎(7)‎

• Permit No: C1984067
• IBM Index Class Name: INSPECTION
• Doc Name: Inspection Report
• Inspection Date: 5/18/2010
• Email Name: TAK
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

/I/. 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 complete inspection and a surety release/termination of jurisdiction inspection of the Coal
Gulch Mine conducted by Tom Kaldenbach of the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and
Safety. Christy Hulsman and Jim Fulton represented the USDOI Office of Surface Mining. No one
else was present.
The permit for this mine was revoked more than 10 years ago. DRMS's IML program had reclamation
work done on the site in September 1994. DRMS reduced annual inspection frequency for this site to
one complete inspection and three partial inspections in 2007.
The southwest part of the site is being used by an unknown party for various construction materials and
equipment. Most of these items were removed in the summer of 2009, while a shop area has been
constructed immediately east of the site. The construction materials and equipment were first placed
on the site between the December 2006 and March 2007 inspections.
The Division initiated the final surety release/termination of jurisdiction process for the Coal Gulch
site in 2008 by sampling vegetation on the site. Vegetation was sampled a second time in 2009. The
Division had scheduled this surety release/termination of jurisdiction inspection in December 2009,but
a snow storm required rescheduling. More than 50 surrounding property owners had been notified of
the inspection,but none expressed an interest in attending.
The ground was dry during this inspection and the entire site was accessible.
Signs and Markers
No signs or markers are on the site.
Hydrologic Balance
The upper pond is a depression on the ground surface that holds water a few feet deep during wet
periods. It contained a small pool of water during this inspection. The lower pond receives runoff from
much of the former surface facilities area and a seep from the backfilled portal of a pre-law mine. The
seep was discharging a trickle of white precipitate,but was not providing enough flow to make it to
the lower pond. The lower pond was dry.
As mentioned in past inspection reports, the remnants of the inlet end of the primary spillway culvert
of the lower pond remain on the inslope of the pond's embankment. An opening on the outslope of the
embankment approximately one foot in diameter may be the outlet end of the culvert. The earthen
open-channel emergency spillway of the lower pond appeared to be in good condition. The capability
of the emergency spillway to safely convey a large storm event was briefly discussed during the
inspection and it was concluded that the spillway appeared capable of functioning properly during such
an event. The pond embankment appeared erosionally and structurally sound.
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