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GEC Strip Mine, Bond Forfeiture Site <br />Partial Oversight Inspection <br />August 4, 2011 <br />Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (DRMS) Permit # C- 1981 -037 <br />Participants: <br />Janet Binns, DRMS <br />Elizabeth Shaeffer, OSM <br />Dr. Doug Corley, Landowner <br />Carin Corley, Mergen Ecological Deliniations <br />Jack Robeda, Leasee <br />Conditions: Cloudy, 80 degrees — ground conditions dry. <br />This inspection was in response to a landowner's request for an inspection with DRMS <br />and OSM personnel. Dr. Corley contacted Janet Binns via email in July, 2011, with this <br />request. Janet Binns (DRMS inspector for the GEC bond forfeiture site) and other <br />DRMS personnel were planning to perform vegetation sampling the week of August 1, <br />2011 at the GEC site. Elizabeth Shaeffer (OSM Environmental Protection Specialist <br />and Inspector) and Dianne Osborne (OSM Senior Remote Sensing Specialist) made <br />arrangements to be at the GEC site the week of August 1 to collect data for a remote <br />sensing vegetation classification pilot project that OSM is conducting in support of the <br />DRMS Regulatory Program. <br />We met Dr. Corley, his daughter Carin, and Jack Robeda, who leases land from Dr. <br />Corley, on the morning of Thursday, August 4, 2011. The group first viewed a sediment <br />pond that is immediately adjacent to the main access road near the entry gate. Dr. <br />Corley stated that this sedimentation pond was completely filled nearly twenty years <br />ago, and he was concerned that sediment is leaving the permit area because this pond <br />does not have the capacity to handle any additional material. We also observed the <br />drainage channel exiting the pond that flows east - northeast off the permit area (see <br />Photos 1 and 2). <br />The group then drove along the main access road that skirts the base of Chen's Hill. <br />Dr. Corley expressed concern that this portion of the road is not safe. I documented the <br />erosion that has occurred along the east side of the road between the base of Chen's <br />Hill and the road (see Photos 3 and 4). Dr. Corley stated that at one time the gully that <br />is adjacent to and runs parallel to the road was four feet deep and you could jump <br />across the gully. The group made observations that the gully is now nearly twenty feet <br />deep and twenty feet across in places. Dr. Corley stated that sediment is leaving the <br />site via the road after major storm events. <br />Chen's Hill has a 3:1 slope. This steeper slope increases surface runoff, especially in <br />areas where vegetation is not established. There is also a limited amount of topsoil or <br />suitable substitute material on some areas of Chen's Hill, which has also hindered the <br />