2011-11-04_INSPECTION - M2004031

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INSPECTION TOPICS: RV PROBLEM /POSSIBLE VIOLATION: (PB) There are state - listed noxious weeds present on site. This is a problem for failure to employ weed control methods for state listed noxious weed species within the permitted area, and to reduce the spread of weeds to nearby areas as required by Section 3.1.10 (6) of the rule. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS: Implement approved weed control measures before the weeds have an opportunity to become established in the Spring of 2012, and provide proof to the Division that this has been done. CORRECTIVE ACTION DUE DATE: April 1, 2012 OBSERVATIONS PERMIT #: M- 2004 -031 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS: DB2 INSPECTION DATE: 05 October 2011 This inspection was conducted on 5 October 2011 by David Bird of DRMS in response to a written complaint received 14 September 2011 from Mr. Fred Orr of Equity Funding, LLC. Also attending the inspection were Connie Davis, Trey Poulson, Kip Raines and Mike Refer of Aggregate Industries and Rich Tocher of Tetra Tech. On 27 September 2011, David Bird and Tom Kaldenbach of DRMS met with Mr. Orr outside of the permit area to observe the ground conditions and hear Mr. Orr's side of the story. The site is located in Adams County approximately 6 miles northeast of Commerce City. The property is bordered on the west by the South Platte River, on the south by 104 Avenue, and on the east by the Fulton Ditch. Sand and gravel are the commodities of interest at this mine. The total permit area is listed in the DRMS database as 203.9 acres, and the post- mining land use is designated as pasture land. The Division holds financial warranty in the amount of $670,602 for the operation. According to company monitoring records, a slurry wall was installed around the site in May or June 2005. The complaint from Mr. Orr alleges that his land was dry before the slurry wall, but after the slurry wall the property "has become unusable due to the amount of water accumulating on it. Most of the site is now a swamp area that was historically dry." We walked the property and observed sizable areas of inundation, standing water, and well - established wetlands. An aerial photo provided by Mr. Orr dated January 2004 shows clearly that the land in question was dry at that time. The latest Google Earth aerial from 2011 now shows substantial visible areas of standing water. Also observed were several large dead trees that Mr. Orr said were living before the slurry wall was installed, suggesting that the elevated ground water conditions killed the trees. The photograph from 2004 appears to indicate that these trees, located near the northwest fringe of the subject property, were alive at that time. A hydrologic feature of interest is the Bull Seep, a ditch that borders the permit area on the east side. Before the establishment of the current permit boundary, the Bull seep was located farther to the west, but after granting of the Hazeltine permit the seep was relocated eastward just outside the perimeter of the permit boundary. Aggregate Industries alleges that activities by Lafarge inside the Howe pit permit area, immediately to the north, resulted in narrowing and constriction of that section of the Bull Seep that is inside the Howe permit area, and therefore the seep can no longer convey water around the Hazeltine pit as it has in the past. The timing of the slurry wall installation with the rise in ground water levels demonstrates that the slurry wall • is very effectively preventing ground water from flowing into the pit, but at the same time the slurry wall is causing ground water mounding on the upgradient side of the slurry wall. With no subsurface drain to convey the ground water, the ground water table has risen to the point that it is ponding on the ground surface. The Page 2 of 18