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Mid-Continent Resources <br /> Response -W.Q.C.D. <br /> Mid-Continent promptly contacted M. & M. Construction Co., requesting that the ponds <br /> be cleaned as soon as possible. M. & M . had cleaned the ponds in October, 1988. <br /> Citing the extreme difficulty of gaining access to the ponds during the winter, the result <br /> of snow and terrain, and of setting up the necessary equipment, then making it <br /> operational, M. & M. expressed reservations about the job, and said they would prefer <br /> to wait until May. M. & M. has the only available dragline between Grand Junction and <br /> Denver, and Mid-Continent did not have any alternative means to clean the ponds. <br /> Only after repeated and urgent requests by Mid-Continent did M. & M. agree to take <br /> on the job. M. & M. experienced difficulty in deploying necessary personnel. <br /> The work of gaining an access to the ponds began Feb. 3. The ponds are situated in <br /> steep terrain at an altitude of approximately 8200'. Snowcover and terrain made it very <br /> difficult to access the ponds with the necessary equipment, which includes a dragline <br /> and trucks. <br /> To clear an access to the ponds required use of a front-end loader, which picked up a <br /> load of snow, then backhauled to deposit the load. The process was cumbersome <br /> and difficult, but use of a snowplow was not feasible due to the close proximity of a <br /> stream buffer zone on one side, and the ditch on the other side, so there was no <br /> alternative method. <br /> Efforts to reach the ponds were further hindered by a storm on Feb. 4 and 5 which <br /> deposited 48" of snow at the site. An avalanche slid into the upper pond. <br /> Set-up of the dragline began Feb. 7. Extensive maintenance and servicing were <br /> necessary for start-up as the equipment had not been used during the winter. Cold <br /> temperatures proved a hinderance to starting the equipment and caused breakage <br /> of a mechanical part which had to be replaced. <br /> Pond cleaning began February 10 on the upper (#1) pond. The cleaning process is <br /> one in which a large dredging bucket, powered by the dragline, is used to remove <br /> sediment from the pond. The sediment is loaded into trucks, then transported to and <br /> approved disposal site. A major part of the pond cleaning on this occasion was <br /> removal of ice as the ponds had frozen. <br /> Cleaning of the upper pond was completed on Feb. 24. At the request of the Mined <br /> Land Reclamation Division, the Lower Pond (#3) was cleaned before the Middle Pond <br /> (#2). Cleaning of Pond #3 was completed Feb. 27 and of Pond #2 on March 2. <br /> The dragline will remain on site. Mid-Continent has requested M. & M. to clean the <br /> ponds of 016 on a monthly schedule for an indefinite time. <br /> To reduce sediment load to the ponds during cleaning straw bales were spread along <br /> the ditch from the tunnel to the ponds, and from outfall 016 to the stream. <br /> 2 <br />