Laserfiche WebLink
Fred R. Banta, Director August 10, 1990 <br /> MLRD, Denver, CO 80203 Page 11 <br /> of the penalty shall be $2000 which is based <br /> on a one day assessment of $2550 with $550 <br /> reduction for good faith. <br /> As a result of the hearing, the Board determined Mid- <br /> Continent had "failed to maintain appropriate sediment control <br /> measures to prevent, to the extent possible, additional <br /> contributions of sediment to stream flow or to runoff outside the <br /> permit area" in affirming the cessation order. <br /> The assessment conference officer found Mid-Continent to be <br /> in violation on the ground that: <br /> Cleaning a pond does not grant an operator <br /> permission to contribute additional sediments to the <br /> stream. The fact that the contractor caused the <br /> violation does not relieve Mid-Continent Resources, <br /> Inc. of its permit obligations. Violations caused <br /> by any person conducting surface coal mining <br /> operations on behalf of the permittee shall be <br /> attributed to the permittee. <br /> At issue in the Order to Show Cause is whether Mid- <br /> Continent, having been held accountable for the actions of an <br /> independent contractor and found in violation because sediment <br /> limits were exceeded, caused the incident through its unwarranted <br /> failure to comply with the law. Mid-Continent did not. <br /> As noted in the Justification for Settlement, "This incident <br /> was caused by a contractor who broke the pipe. He did not report <br /> the accident to Mid-Continent officials. " <br /> The cause of the violation was an accident beyond the <br /> reasonable control of Mid-Continent. The dragline operator who was <br /> cleaning the uppermost pond of the Outfall No. 016 three-pond <br /> series inadvertently struck the spillway pipe- of the pond. <br /> Cleaning these ponds is necessary maintenance to ensure compliance. <br /> Mid-Continent, by having the pond cleaned, was acting <br /> prudently and properly to ensure compliance with the permit for <br /> discharge from Outfall No. 016 and to fulfill our commitment to the <br /> Department of Health and the Mined Land Reclamation Division that <br /> the Outfall No. 016 ponds would be cleaned frequently. Pond <br /> cleaning by an independent contractor was necessary because Mid- <br /> Continent did not have the equipment, i.e. , the dragline, necessary <br />