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Snowcap Coal Company/Roadside Portals Bond Release Inspection (Phase I, II, and III, SL-7) <br />Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS) Permit ID # C-1981-041 <br />Thursday September 23rd, 2010; 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM <br />Participants: <br />Sandy Brown, DRMS <br />Mike Boulay, DRMS <br />Dave Kasnoff, FCI Constructors, Inc. (Halliburton Contractor) <br />Mark Preuss, FCI Constructors, Inc. (part of the inspection) <br />Gabe Connor, FCI Constructors, Inc. (part of the inspection) <br />Tonya Hammond, Snowcap CC Rep/J. E. Stover & Associates, Inc. <br />Jim Stover, J. E. Stover & Associates, Inc. (Consulting Engineer) <br />Robert Gutierrez, Union Pacific Railroad (part of the inspection) <br />Mike Hall, Union Pacific Railroad (part of the inspection) <br />Howard Strand, OSMRE <br />I participated in a Phase I, II, and III bond release inspection at the Roadside Portals. DRMS <br />administers the bond release process in part through the State- Federal Cooperative Agreement <br />found at 30 CFR, Part 906.30. Weather conditions were cool, dry, and sunny. <br />Prior to the inspection I reviewed the bond release application dated July 1, 2010. The <br />application and subsequent correspondence in the record document that J.E. Stover and <br />Associates, Inc. provided notifications of the bond release inspection as required by Colorado <br />Rule 3, Performance Bond Requirements. These notifications included the surface owners of the <br />permit area proposed for release, surface landowners adjacent to the permit area, local, State, and <br />Federal governmental agencies, utility companies, and the public at large. <br />The purpose of this inspection was to gather evidence of reclamation pertaining to the pending <br />Phase I, II and III Bond Release (BR) on 75.2 acres of reclaimed land at the Snowcap Coal <br />Company's Roadside Portals. The BR request is for those lands within the permit boundary <br />located at the Unit Train Loadout Facility, Permanent Flood Control Dike, and portions of the <br />Railroad Spur and Overland Conveyor area which has been disturbed and fully reclaimed. A <br />surety bond in the amount of $1,640,413.00 is in place. Of this amount, $661,061.00 is being <br />requested for release. Surface ownership of the mine is Federal and private, the coal mined was <br />Federal and private. The site has an approved industrial post-mining land use (PMLU). <br />Mr. Boulay began the inspection on the morning of September 23rd by orienting the participants <br />to the areas proposed for bond release with a map and providing some historical information <br />regarding the mining operation itself. Mr. Boulay also informed the participants that a review of <br />the hydrologic analysis that was submitted by Snowcap Coal Company with the bond release <br />application showed a slight increase in total dissolved solids (TDS) in the down gradient <br />direction for UTL alluvial ground water monitoring wells #2 and #4. However, he was unable to <br />determine if the increase was due to activities associated with mining without conducting further <br />analysis and, at least initially, the situation did not appear to be problematic for bond release <br />purposes. No concerns were identified or raised with UTL monitoring wells #1 and #3 or the <br />Rollins Sandstone ground water monitoring wells #1 through #4.