2010-07-30_INSPECTION - C1982056

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railroad through a partially blocked culvert towards Foidel Creek. The creek appeared clean with little to no evidence of coaly material in the stream channel (material was present on the stream bank and higher flow would wash the material downstream). Straw wattles have been placed to help prevent fiirther movement of this material towards the creek. The upper spill area was much smaller - approximately 15 x 2 feet of flow. Waste from the spill areas should be cleaned up as soon as possible to prevent coaly material from entering the creek and creating any off-site impacts to the hydrologic resource. The Fish Creek Water Treatment facility was active at the time of inspection. Water travels through an electrocoagulation system before running through a series of pond baffles where solids are allowed to settle out. Treated water was being piped back for use at the mine. The discharge structure to Fish Creek was intact and stable but not currently in use (tends to be brought on-line in mid- to late-June and run for about three months per year. One baffle was loose in the pond and should be anchored to prevent short-circuiting of the pond. The 18 LT pipeline has been installed and covered but not topsoiled, seeded, or marked with disturbed area markers. Mr. Nettleton indicated that the markers will be put up soon (spring). The 10 RT dewatering facility has two pipeline corridors. Both corridors lack disturbed area markers. One corridor discharges toward Foidel Creek. TCC is considering constructing a pond / wetland enhancement feature at the outlet location. The other runs to the 6MN mine water storage pond, which is a total containment (non-discharging) structure. It was holding water at the time of inspection. Fan portals have been sealed and the fans & buildings are ready to be removed and reclaimed in the Eastern Mining District (9 RT). The intake shaft facility area has been backfilled and is awaiting final grading, topsoil, and seeding. The bid document for this work will go out within about a week. Reclamation is expected to commence in late July. The temporary above-ground pipeline pumping wash plant waste to the Eastern Mining District was observed to be securely in place. The pipe runs under the railroad track. The entire pipeline is walked by mine personnel once per shift (twice per day) and one person is assigned to watch the new borehole entry full time. Mr. Nettleton indicated that he hopes to be able to bore under the railroad within two weeks and be finished with the project within one month. TCC has submitted proposals to DBMS for this project (discharging into the sealed portions of the Eastern Mining District) and to drill a new borehole adjacent to the original clogged hole (discharging into the sealed portions of the Southwest Mining District) utilizing the existing drill pad area. These plans have not yet received approval from DRMS and construction has not yet begun. Closeout issues: Minor work does need to be completed, but no compliance issues warranting violations were noted as a result of this inspection. Disturbed area markers should be in place before surface disturbances take place (Rule 4.02.3) to help ensure surface activities are confined to approved locations. Several pipeline corridors have already been disturbed and need to be marked to avoid