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Mine Site Inspection <br />Mine Name: Hawk's Nest East & West Mine <br />Permittee: (bond forfeiture) <br />Permit ID #: C- 1981 -016 <br />Inspection Date: June 4, 2012 1:00 — 2:15 <br />Weather Conditions: Warm, dry, overcast <br />Participants: <br />Christine Belka, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) ID# 182 <br />Jim Stark, Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS) <br />This was a partial oversight inspection conducted in conjunction with a special focus evaluation. The <br />special focus evaluation assessed the Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety's (DRMS) Prevention of <br />Off -Site Impacts on Bond Forfeiture Sites. DRMS has approved a reduced inspection frequency and <br />inspects this reclaimed bond forfeiture site once per quarter. <br />Site History <br />The Hawk's Nest Mine is a revoked underground coal mine site approximately 3 miles east of Somerset, <br />Colorado along the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Approximately 29 acres of surface area were <br />disturbed. The surface is privately owned, the coal is federal. The mine area is now contained within the <br />permitted Sanborn Creek / Elk Creek Mines (Oxbow Mining, LLC). <br />The former permittee, Western Slope Carbon, LLC, failed to comply with regulatory requirements of the <br />Colorado Program for an extended period of time. As a result, Colorado revoked the permit and <br />forfeited the $624,803.05 reclamation bond. Colorado hired private contractors and began reclaiming <br />the site in 1990. The contractors completed reclamation of the West Mine in November, 1990, followed <br />by the East Mine which was completed in November, 1991. Final reclamation work including removal of <br />coal silos, construction of ditches, removal of two sediment ponds, sealing of 3 methane degas wells, <br />and spreading topsoil was completed in November 1994. In December, 1995, 4 barrels of toxic waste <br />containing PCBs were removed from the site and disposed of in a licensed facility according to EPA <br />regulations. The East Mine was treated in November, 2000, for control of noxious weeds, erosion <br />control, soil amendments, addition of growth medium obtained from CDOT, reseeding, and disposal of <br />roof bolts and other hazardous debris. Since that time Gunnison County Weed Control has conducted <br />weed spraying activities on the site. <br />The DRMS is conducting year 9 (of 10) vegetation sampling activities this week to document <br />revegetation success prior to terminating jurisdiction on the site. <br />Field Evaluation <br />The site generally trends east — west and slopes down to the south toward the North Fork of the <br />Gunnison River. Train tracks run along nearly the entire southern perimeter of the disturbance area, and <br />would intercept sheet flow runoff prior to leaving the site (see photo 7473). Diversion channels are <br />stable and route surface runoff to the river (see photo 7474). The site does not exhibit any erosional <br />