2011-01-20_ENFORCEMENT - C1981008

• Permit No: C1981008
• IBM Index Class Name: ENFORCEMENT
• Doc Date: 1/20/2011
• Doc Name: Response to Ten Day Notice
• From: DRMS
• To: OSM
• Violation No.: TDNX11140182001
• Email Name: DAB
• Email Name: SB1
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

STATE OF COLORADO
DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, MINING AND SAFETY
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman St., Room 215
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
January 20, 2011
Ms. Christine Belka
Environmental Protection Specialist
Denver Regional Office
Office of Surface Mining
1999 Broadway, Suite 3320
Denver, Colorado 80202-3050
RE: New Horizon Mine, C-1981-008
Ten Day Notice #X11-140-182-001
Dear Ms. Belka:
COLORADO
DIVISION OF
RECLAMATION
MINING
SAFETY
John W. Hickenlooper
Governor
Mike King
Executive Director
Loretta E. Pineda
Director
The Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety (Division) received Ten Day Notice (TDN) # X11-
140-182-001 on January 14, 2011. The TDN was issued by the Office of Surface Mining on January 12,
2011 in response to a citizen complaint from Ms. JoEllen Turner. The TDN alleges: 1) that prime
farmland topsoil was being removed in the rain and under snow; and 2)rocks were not removed prior to
replacing topsoil. The Office of Surface Mining alleged violations are that: 1) topsoil salvage operations
damaged the chemical and physical properties of the soil and did not minimize erosion, contamination
and/or compaction; and 2)the soil redistribution plan was not complied with. OSM claims these are
potential violations of Rules 4.06.2, 4.06.3 and 2.05.4(2)(d) of the Rules and Regulations of the
Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining.
An inspection of the New Horizon Mine was conducted by the Division on January 14, 2011. A copy of
our inspection report is attached to this response. At the time of the inspection, no topsoil salvage or
topsoil replacement activities were occurring on the prime farmland. The Division representative,
Marcia Talvitie, asked Western Fuels-Colorado (WFC) representative Ross Gubka to describe the
topsoiling activities that had occurred from December 1, 2010 up to the inspection date. WFC described
their activities in the attached letter dated 17 January 2011. Lift A and Lift B topsoil was salvaged from
the prime farmlands and transported to the respective stockpiles on the Morgan property. No topsoil
redistribution occurred. There is no evidence that a violation of the topsoil salvage plan or topsoil
redistribution plan has occurred.
The complaint also alleges that the operator handled prime farmland topsoil in saturated conditions.
During the inspection Mr. Gubka provided the precipitation records for the month of December 2010.
Office of Office of
Mined Land Reclamation Denver • Grand Junction • Durango Active and Inactive Mines