1992-01-15_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017

• Permit No: C1981017
• IBM Index Class Name: GENERAL DOCUMENTS
• Doc Date: 1/15/1992
• Doc Name: Bid Documents ‎(IMP)‎
• Permit Index Doc Type: General Correspondence
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

JUSTIFICATION OF VACATION RECOMMENDATION FOR
NOV C-91-018
At Mid-Continent Resources request, I convened an assessment conference in our
offices to consider the above cited notice of violation on Thursday, December
19, 1991 . In attendance at the conference were Ms . Diane Delaney and Mr. Lew
Thompson of Mid-Continent Resources, Inc. , and Steve Renner and Dan Mathews of
the Division' s staff, in addition to me.
NOV C-91-018 was written for "failure to stabilize access / light use road
cuts and fills with a vegetative cover or other measures to minimize erosion
and siltation and prevent,to the extent possible, additional contributions of
suspended solids to stream flow." NOV C-91-018 was issued by Dan Mathews,
Reclamation Specialist, on September 18, 1991 . As Dan stated in the NOV; this
notice applies to Roads A, B, C, D, E, F, G, the main access road, and the
rock tunnel disposal area access road. The situation was found to be in
noncompliance with regulatory sections 4.03.2(3)(c)(ii ) , (d)(x) , and
4.03.3(1 )(a) .
The penalty assessment proposed by the Division Assessment Officer was:
History $200.00
Seriousness $500.00
Fault $500.00
TOTAL PROPOSED CIVIL PENALTY: $1 ,200.00
In response, Ms. Diane Delaney, representative of Mid-Continent Resources ,
Inc. , recounted the history of considerations related to this issue. The
structural and soil stability of Coal Basin roads has been a significant issue
of adequacy concern throughout the existence of the permanent program permit
at Coal Basin. Ms. Delaney presented copies of a Division letter of September
8, 1981 , regarding the issue of the road consideration, contained within the
approved permit documents. This letter references the approval of the Rock
Tunnel and summarizes the operators "Interim Road Management Plan" . This
brief plan states that the upslope borrow ditch will be relocated away from
the cut slopes and the cut slopes will then be allowed to slough onto the road
surface. This is intended to effect narrowing of the road surface and to
provide a more stable configuration of the cut slope. No mention is made of
fill embankments below the road surfaces . The letter commits Mid-Continent to
reevaluating the road situation after completion of the rock tunnel .
Because I participated in road system review and discussion throughout the
history of the Coal Basin interim and permanent program permits, I am aware of
much of the history of this situation. The rock tunnel was conceived by
Mid-Continent to resolve the historic road problems . Mid-Continent Resources ,
at the requirement of the Division, completed specific geotechnical analyses
of the entire road system to identify areas of structural and soil stability
concern, in order to develop proposed methodology for curing these problems
during final reclamation. Following commencement of the rock tunnel
excavation, the Division temporarily relaxed its concern pending the
completion of the bores. The tunnel was finally completed in 1988 at greatly
increased cost to the operator, which contributed to their current poor
financial condition. While the operator had committed to reevaluating the
road situation following completion of the rock tunnel , for a number of
reasons this reevaluation has not been completed.