2012-07-09_REVISION - C1980007

• Permit No: C1980007
• IBM Index Class Name: Revision
• Doc Date: 7/9/2012
• Doc Name: Preliminary Adequacy Review
• From: DRMS
• To: Mountain Coal Company, LLC
• Type & Sequence: TR128
• Email Name: JRS
• Email Name: DIH
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

STATE OF COLORADO
DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, MINING AND SAFETY
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman St., Room 215
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
9 July 2012
Kathleen G. Welt
Mountain Coal Company, LLC
P.O. Box 591
Somerset, CO 81434
Re: West Elk Mine (Permit No. C- 1980 -007)
Technical Revision No. 129 (TR -128)
Repairs of the ST -2 Pad Slump and the Slide below the RPEE Haul Road
Dear Ms. Welt:
COLORADO
Q I V I S I O N O F
RECLAMATION
MINING
SAFETY
John W. Hickenlooper
Governor
Mike King
Executive Director
Loretta E. Pineda
Director
The Division has received the application for West Elk Mine's Technical Revision 128 - Repairs of
the ST -2 Pad Slump and the Slide below the RPEE Haul Road. The revision was received on 28
March 2012, found incomplete on 6 April 2012 and deemed complete on 8 June 2012. The
Division has reviewed the submittal and has the following questions and comments.
There were two slide areas that were repaired and are a part of TR -128. They are the ST -02 area
and the HR -1 area (the slide along the haul road below the RPEE). The ST -02 slide area was
repaired and a French drain was installed to help remove the water from the slide area. The HR -1
slide area was comprised of two distinct slide areas, the east slide area and the west slide area. The
east slide area was repaired and a crushed rock filter blanket was installed to remove water from
the slide area. The west slide area was repaired and a French drain was installed to remove water
from the slide area. At this point both the ST -02 and the HR -1 slide areas have been reseeded and
covered with coconut fiber matting to help control erosion.
In addition to regular monthly site inspections that occurred during the repairs and following the
repairs, the Division conducted a site inspection on 10 April 2012 with geotechnical engineers Jon
White with the Colorado Geologic Survey and Zach Trujillo with the Division. The last site
inspection conducted to date was conducted on 21 June 2012. Additionally, the TR -128
application package contained engineering reports for the ST -02 slide ( "Subsurface Exploration
Program, Geotechnical Recommendations, Slope Evaluation and Remediation — West Elk Mine"
prepared by Ground Engineering Consultants, Inc {Ground}) and the HR -1 Slide ( "Haul Road
Slide Repair Documentation, Slope Stability Monitoring Instrumentation and Drainage Revision"
prepared by Barr Engineering Co. {Barr}). The Division's preliminary adequacy review is based
on the site inspections and the Ground and Barr reports.
Office of Office of
Mined Land Reclamation Denver - Grand Junction - Durango Active and Inactive Mines