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L DESERADO MINE <br />BLUE MOUNTAIN ENERGY <br />3607 County Rd. 65 <br />Rangely, CO 81648 <br />(970)675-4300 <br />fax (970)675-4399 <br />October 26, 2010 <br />Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment <br />Water Quality Control Division <br />WQCD-P-B2 <br />4300 Cherry Creek Drive South <br />Denver, CO 80246-1530 <br />RE: Notes regarding discharge from Outfall 001A - 3rd Quarter 2010 <br />Permit Number C00038024 <br />During the 3r`' quarter of 2010 Outfall 001 experienced two discharges, both as a direct <br />result of precipitation events. The second discharge resulted in elevated Total Suspended <br />Solids pushing the 30-day average above the 31.9 mg/l standard. Therefore, we request <br />that Alternate Limitations applicable to `Any discharge or increase in the volume of a <br />discharge caused by precipitation within any 24-hour period less than or equal to the 10- <br />year, 24-hour precipitation event` be applied to this discharge per Part I.A.1. and Part I.A.3 <br />of the above referenced permit. <br />The facility was designed, constructed, operated, and maintained in a manner to contain <br />and treat flows in excess of the 10-year, 24-hour event. <br />The storm events that resulted in discharge from Outfall 001 during the quarter are as <br />follow: <br />July 7, 2010: 1.07" of precipitation was received, mostly during a 15-minute period, due <br />to an intense isolated thunderstorm starting about 5:00 pm. A sample of the discharge <br />from 001 was collected at 4:55 pm on July 8, 2010. The TSS concentration was 27 mg/l <br />for this sample. <br />August 2, 2010: 1.76" of precipitation was received, all within a 2-hour period, due to an <br />intense isolated thunderstorm starting about 5:30 pm. A sample of the discharge from 001 <br />was collected at 1:20 pm on August 3, 2010. The TSS concentration was 68 mg/1 for this <br />sample. This concentration was within the 7-day maximum average but exceeded the 30- <br />day average limitation for TSS. We therefore request that the Alternate Limitation be <br />applied for this event. <br />It should be noted that the 10-year, 24-hour event is 1.6 inches. While the August event <br />exceeded this threshold the discharge continued to meet the limitations for runoff events <br />less than the 10-year, 24-hour criteria.