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sparsely vegetated on their south- facing slopes (see Photo 1). Cheat grass was prominent on <br />these south- facing slopes, and this is also the area where we would find many burrows. <br />Ground squirrels have burrowed into many of the stockpiles and established a habitat (see Photos <br />2 and 3). Consequently, badgers have been drawn to the area for this food source and have <br />subsequently temporarily taken over the ground squirrels' home. In these areas, the vegetation <br />establishment is impeded and surface conditions are hummocky. <br />Some of the piles were young and have only experience 1 -2 growing seasons. For example, the <br />Ash 2010 topsoil stockpile was created in the fall of 2010, and has no vegetation (or topsoil <br />markers) since it has not yet experienced a growing season. Due to drought conditions in recent <br />years, perennials have not had the ideal growing conditions and have not established. Some piles <br />had issues with weeds and will be sprayed this summer when the conditions are ideal. <br />Many of the piles have been added to, borrowed from, or hastily constructed. These piles have <br />uneven vegetative cover or are bare and will likely need to be reseeded to control loss of <br />resource. Topsoil stockpile Z109 is completely bare. It is a steep pile (see Photo 4) and the <br />slopes must be knocked down to the appropriate slope before seeding occurs. Mr. Roberts <br />informed us that he would prefer that this pile be used soon for reclamation so that they do not <br />have to move the power line. <br />Many of the topsoil stockpiles were lacking the required identification markers. These are <br />essential in protecting the topsoil resource so that it is not inadvertently disturbed. <br />Topsoil stockpile A108 contained minor rills on its north- facing slope (see Photo 5). This issue <br />was previously identified by a DRMS inspector. This area will continue to be monitored by <br />DRMS staff and the company and the appropriate mitigation will be conducted if the problem <br />persists. <br />Blasting Notification Evaluation: <br />At the mine office, the Team evaluated the mine's blasting notifications. Because the <br />Evaluation Year is from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011 we examined blasting notification <br />records for 2010 and 2011. The mine provided copies of the most recent notification letters and <br />newspaper publications. This mine has three active areas and blasting occurs nearly every day. <br />There are currently no landowners within one half mile of the blasting sites described in the <br />schedule. However, as a courtesy, the mine notifies a local resident of the annual blasting <br />schedule by certified letter. These letters are also sent to the local municipalities. If blasting <br />programs are preexisting, annual notifications and publications of the same schedule are <br />acceptable under Colorado Rule 4.08.3(1)(a)(c). Trapper Mine has demonstrated that they are <br />properly and timely notifying the public of blasting operations and schedules. <br />Additional Inspection Details: <br />As our inspection progressed, we noticed that many coal haul trucks were operating and creating <br />fugitive dust. Water trucks began to spray the roads and the fugitive dust suppressed. Mr. <br />Roberts informed us that the mine uses (recycled) water from the power plant to spray the roads. <br />The plant gets this water from an intake structure on the river. <br />