1988-06-20_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017

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° ` °Q STATE OF COLORADO Roy Romer, Governor 1876 DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES MINED LAND RECLAMATION DIVISION FRED R. BANTA, Director May 27, 1988 Mr. Robert Hagen, Director Albuoueraue Field Office Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 625 Silver Avenue, SW Suite 310 Albuqueraue, New Mexico 87102 Re: Coal Basin Mine, C-017-81 , Second Response to TDN X-88-02-244-2 Dear Mr. Hagen: The Division has received the OSMRE's comments on the Division' s response to the above-referenced Ten-Day Notice. This letter is written to further clarify the Division' s position on the Ten-Day Notice, and to ask that you reconsider your position. As previously stated in the original response, the practice of snow pushing over the upper bench of the Sutey Refuse Pile has been approved by the Division. Documentation for this approval was submitted with the original response, dated April 28, 1988. For this reason the Ten-Day Notice does not describe a practice that is a violation. It appears that the Ten-Day Notice subject fits under the directive INE-27, covering practices which have been approved by the Division, but may be at variance to the regulations or performance standards. As to the effectiveness of the bench for draining the upper area of the pile, the Division still contends that the plan is very effective to allow drainace off the upper area of the pile. As previously stated, the first foot of the bench material was mucky and wet from freeze and thaw cycles. The OSM is incorrect in stating that the upper areas of the bench had been worked by bulldozer. The only area of the bench worked by the operator during the OSM inspection was the lower 15-20 feet of the steep slope of the bench area. Mr. Scott Jones of Mid-Continent Resources reconfirmed this in a telephone conversation with the Division on May 20, 1988. Also, during the inspection there was no evidence of reworking of the flat portions of the bench by a bulldozer. Ponding was occurring- on the lower portion of the bench approximately 10-15 feet up from the outlet. This was the area that had been previously reworked by the bulldozer. However, a refuse flow had occurred just minutes prior to our inspection of this ditch. The refuse had flowed down the conveyor road and actually ramped up on this outlet area of the bench and backed up water. The flow was over three feet deep in portions of the conveyor road and ditches. An NOV was written for this situation. 215 Centennial Building, 1313 Sherman Street Denver, Colorado 80203-2273 Tel.(303) 866-3567