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May 21, 2012 C- 1980- 007/West Elk Mine MLT <br />Inspection Topic Summary <br />NOTE: Y= Inspected N =Not Inspected R= Comments Noted <br />V= Violation Issued NA =Not Applicable <br />N - Air Resource Protection R -Roads <br />N - Availability of Records N - Reclamation Success <br />N - Backfill & Grading <br />R - Excess Spoil and Dev. Waste <br />N - Explosives <br />N - Fish & Wildlife <br />N - Hydrologic Balance <br />N - Gen. Compliance With Mine Plan <br />R - Other <br />R - Processing Waste <br />N - Revegetation <br />N - Subsidence <br />R - Slides and Other Damage <br />N - Support Facilities On -site <br />N - Signs and Markers <br />N - Support Facilities Not On -site <br />N - Special Categories Of Mining <br />N - Topsoil <br />COMMENTS <br />This was an Aerial Inspection of the West Elk Mine conducted by the Division of Reclamation, <br />Mining and Safety. Photos were taken on Monday, May 21, 2012 by Harry Ranney, and were <br />analyzed and annotated by Marcia Talvitie. <br />The purpose of this inspection was to document and evaluate the progress made, to date, by <br />Mountain Coal Company (MCC) in its development of the RPE East coal mine waste disposal <br />area and repair of a nearby landslide feature. <br />For a historical perspective, current photos are paired with photos of the area that were taken by <br />the Division on August 23, 2011. <br />EXCESS SPOIL and DEVELOPMENT WASTE — Rule 4.09 <br />Placement; Drainage Control; Surface Stabilization: <br />• Disposal of development waste from the West Elk Mine workings and waste from MCC's <br />Coal Processing Plant is presently occurring at both the Refuse Pile Expansion (RPE) and the <br />Refuse Pile Expansion - East (RPE East) facilities. Overviews of the RPE and RPE East <br />areas are provided in Photos IA and 1B. <br />Approval of the RPE East valley -fill disposal area was obtained under TR -120 in April 2010. <br />MR -368 modified construction of the RPE East rock toe buttress to occur in phases. With <br />TR -127, approved in September 2011, MCC refined the stability modeling for the RPE East <br />to incorporate a three - dimensional analysis. The new modeling showed that the requisite <br />factor of safety could be achieved without removing colluvium from the valley prior to <br />placement of Coal Mine Waste. Most recently, in December 2011, phasing of the rock toe <br />buttress was further modified under MR -383. "Phase P' of the buttress construction was <br />broken down into Phase IA Rock Fill and Phase IA Upstream Colluvium Fill (Exhibit 82 <br />Permit Drawing Nos. F -3 and F -3.2). <br />The RPE East is detailed in Photos 2A and 2B. In August 2011, MCC was in the early stages <br />of constructing the buttress. As of the current inspection, Phase IA of the buttress has been <br />completed and placement of coal mine waste has commenced. <br />Number of Partial Inspection this Fiscal Year: 12 <br />Number of Complete Inspections this Fiscal Year: 3 Page 2 of 10 <br />