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DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866 -3567 <br />FAX: (303) 832 -8106 <br />Mr. Bob Hagen <br />Director, Albuquerque Field Office <br />Office of Surface Mining <br />505 Marquette NW, Suite 1200 <br />Albuquerque, NM 87102 <br />RE: TDN 93- 020 - 190 -TV4, Coal Basin Mines (C -81 -017) <br />Dear Mr. Hagen: <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />Roy Romer <br />Governor <br />Michael B. Long <br />Division Director <br />The Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG) respectfully <br />requests an informal review of the Albuquerque Field Office's (AFO) <br />findings regarding the DMG's response to issue 4 of TDN 93- 020 -190- <br />05 TV4. Those findings were received by the DMG on August 6, 1993. <br />This letter contains the DMG's reasoning for believing that our <br />response to the TDN was appropriate. <br />Issue four of the TDN cites an alleged violation of Colorado rule <br />4.05.3(1)(e) for failure to maintain a diversion in a stable <br />manner. The diversion cited is located at the toe of a pre -law <br />coal waste pile. Both the ditch and the pile have been in place <br />since approximately 1964. Portions of the toe of the pile have <br />moved since the time of construction and sections of wood cribbing <br />which serve as retaining walls are failing. <br />Colorado has already issued an enforcement action for failure to <br />maintain the ditch in question, citing a problem with sediment <br />deposition in portions of the ditch. A copy of that NOV is <br />enclosed. The OSM inspection report accompanying the TDN discusses <br />material on the slopes above the ditch which is "slumping into the <br />diversion ". Colorado does not feel that extending its enforcement <br />action on the ditch to the pre -law refuse pile is justified for the <br />following reasons. <br />First, none of the material from the refuse pile was slumped into <br />the ditch. The problem areas of the ditch (cited in the Colorado <br />NOV) resulted from sediment deposition by flows in the ditch, not <br />from slumpage of the refuse pile. The only evidence of material <br />slumping from above actually reaching the ditch is a small deposit <br />of material on the opposite side of the ditch from the pile which <br />has a set of straw bales around it. It is not known when this <br />material slid off the refuse pile. The material does not impair <br />the ditch's ability to function as designed because no material was <br />deposited within the ditch. <br />