2011-06-20_ENFORCEMENT - C1982057

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STATE OF COLORADO DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, MINING AND SAFETY Department of Natural Resources 1313 Sherman St., Room 215 COLORADO Denver, Colorado 80203 D I V1 S I O N O F Phone: (303) 866 -3567 RECLAMATION MINING FAX: (303) 832 -8106 — Sc- SAF ETY John W. Hickenlooper Governor Date: June 20, 2011 Mike King Executive Director To: Dan Hernandez Loretta E. Pineda Director From: Susan Burgmaier<31N RE: Notice of Violation CV- 2011 -001 Seneca IIW Mine C1982057 Civil Penalty Assessment I issued NOV CV- 2011 -001 on May 27, 2011, at the Seneca II -W Mine, and am requesting that you propose a civil penalty for the violation. The notice of proposed civil penalty is due on June 27, 2011. In addition to the information provided in the Notice of Violation and my May 16, 2011 inspection report, I offer the following information for your use in assessing the penalty. The notice was issued for "Failure to ensure that `construction, maintenance, and post- mining conditions of haul roads into and across the site of operations will control or prevent erosion and siltation, pollution of air or water, and damage to public or private property', as required by Rule 4.03.1(1)(a), and failure to ensure that haul roads do not cause `additional contributions of suspended solids to streamflow or to runoff outside the permit area' as required by Rule 4.03.1(1)(b)." The specific areas of the operation that were out of compliance were the mine entrance haul road outslope, and a culvert at the mine entrance road (MEHR -1). There have been no NOVs or COs issued at the site in the past twelve months. The last enforcement action taken at the site was April 25, 2007. On May 3, 2011, Roy Karo of Seneca Coal Company (SCC) called to notify me that there had been a small landslide on the outslope of the mine entrance haul road (MEHR). The slide was approximately 200' in length, and was encroaching on 006 Gulch, which is tributary to Hubberson Gulch and Dry Creek. On May 16, 2011, during a site inspection, I observed that the slide had moved further downslope and into 006 Gulch. The slide material had blocked the stream and forced it out of its channel, causing significant erosion on the opposite bank. There was about a 200' section of the stream affected, and the slide material was 2 -3' deep. The area affected is outside of the sediment control system for the mine, but within the disturbance and permit boundaries. It did not appear that the slide was a result of the operator's lack of maintenance, problems with construction, etc. This landslide is one of twenty that have occurred at this operation this year. Office of Office of Mined Land Reclamation Denver • Grand Junction • Durango Active and Inactive Mines