_INSPECTION - C1981044 (30) - Laserfiche WebLink

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July 18, 2011 C-1981-044/Williams Fork Mines JRS ROADS(cont.)-The main haul road/mine entrance road was well maintained and stable at the time of the inspection. With the exception of the erosion noted above,no other erosional features were noted. RECLAMATION SUCCESS-Rule 4.15, Rule 3: The main focus of this inspection was to assess the noxious weeds on the site and the weed spraying that conducted this spring/summer and last fall. Besides some areas with small amounts of white top, hound's tongue and thistle,there are/were numerous areas of Russian Knapweed infestation. MCM has conducted spraying operations and they have hit most of the areas. As noted below,there are still areas that will need to be sprayed. The Division recommends walking the entire site with backpack sprayers and spot spraying the weeds as they are encountered. For a few of the larger areas,a tractor/ATV mounted sprayer may be appropriate. While the Division believes that MCM has made considerable headway,there is still a fair amount of work to be done. -There were two large patches of Russian Knapweed just north of the reclaimed Mine No. 9 refuse pile. These patches have been mostly eradicated. There were scattered plants at the outer perimeter of both patches, with more plants seen in the western-most pile. The vast majority of the knapweed was dead. MCM will need to spot spray this area to continue to control the knapweed. -There is still a fairly large infestation of Russian Knapweed in the field by ponds SH-P1 and SH-P2. There was some weed spraying on the edges of this area but the entire field will need to be sprayed. -There is still a small amount of Russian Knapweed on the berm along the edge of the portal 5A bench across from the Multiple Services Building. There is not as much knapweed as there was last year but some plants remain. This area will need to be sprayed. -There are sporadic patches of Russian Knapweed along the haul road to the mine 5 facilities area on both sides of the road,basically south of the bridge over the Williams Fork River). While the infestation area is much less than last year, numerous plants still remain. There has been limited spraying in some areas but the entire haul road area will need to be sprayed. -The embankments to ponds 5-P5, 5-P6 and 5-P7 were basically covered with Russian Knapweed last year. While there is still some knapweed on the embankments, especially the embankment between 5-P6 and 5-P7, MCM has made some headway on controlling this infested area. Further spraying will be necessary this summer/fall. -There was a small patch of Russian Knapweed on the southwest portion of the reclaimed Mine No. 4 portal area. This area will need to be sprayed. -All of the white top and hound's tongue seen in the area of the Mine No. 5 mine water discharge ponds(5-P5, 5- P6 and 5-P7)have been sprayed. The spraying appears to have been successful, as all of the plants appeared to be dead at this point. MCM will need to continue to monitor these locations. - The hound's tongue that was along the haul road on the east side of Colorado Highway 13 has mostly been sprayed and appeared to be dead. There are,however, isolated plants that will need to be sprayed. Additionally, there were isolated hound's tongue plants in the area of the reclaimed No. 9 Mine refuse pile and the pond SH-P 1 and SH-P2 area. MCM will need to spray the hound's tongue plants in this area(probably spot spraying with a backpack sprayer will be necessary). Number of Partial Inspection this Fiscal Year: 1 Number of Complete Inspections this Fiscal Year: 0 Page 3 of 6