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September 12, 2012 C-1981-017/Coal Basin Mines BFB <br /> Inspection Topic Summary <br /> NOTE: Y=Inspected N=Not Inspected R=Comments Noted V=Violation Issued NA=Not Applicable <br /> N -Air Resource Protection R -Roads <br /> N -Availability of Records N -Reclamation Success <br /> R -Backfill &Grading R -Revegetation <br /> N -Excess Spoil and Dev.Waste N - Subsidence <br /> N -Explosives R - Slides and Other Damage <br /> N -Fish&Wildlife N - Support Facilities On-site <br /> R -Hydrologic Balance N - Signs and Markers <br /> N -Gen. Compliance With Mine Plan N - Support Facilities Not On-site <br /> N -Other N - Special Categories Of Mining <br /> N -Processing Waste N -Topsoil <br /> COMMENTS <br /> This was an inspection of the Coal Basin Mine conducted by Brock Bowles, Steve Renner and Sandra Brown of <br /> the Colorado Division of Reclamation,Mining and Safety on September 11-12, 2012. The permit for this mine <br /> was revoked and the bond was forfeited. The reclamation was completed by the Division.Weather conditions <br /> were overcast and warm with a slight breeze. It rained Tuesday night and the soil was damp on Wednesday. It <br /> was not known exactly how much rain was received,but there were large amounts of sediment deposits on County <br /> Road 307 from adjacent drainages before the mine entrance. The USFS is reworking the management plan for the <br /> Coal Basin area. They have two vegetation test plots set up at the Sutey Pile and they are planning to do some <br /> earth work on Road B and Road D in the next week or so. Future management plans are being evaluated by the <br /> USFS. <br /> Also present during this site visit were representatives from the Office of Surface Mining (OSM): Diane Osborne, <br /> Aldo Pascencia,Paul Ulmer and Daniel MacKinnon;the US Geological Survey(USGS): Mark Bauer,Jeff Sloan <br /> and Bill Christiansen; and the Bureau of Land Reclamation (BLM): Lance Brady and Jeff Saphran to test the <br /> applicability of using a Raven Model A,an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV),to photograph the mine site. USGS <br /> used a GoPro Hero 2 camera. It's the latest offering from GoPro at 3.3 oz. <br /> One limitation of the UAV is that must always be in sight distance of the operator. Due to the steep and varied <br /> terrain in Coal Basin, only the lower portions of the mine area were photographed. The UAV photographed the <br /> Old Refuse Disposal Area,the Sutey Pile,the Dutch Creek drainage to a point west of the lamphouse. Because of <br /> access difficulties, UAV photographs of the portal areas were not obtained. It will take several weeks to process <br /> the imagery that was collected. <br /> Diane Osborne and Aldo Pascencia are with OSM's remote sensing group and Daniel MacKinnon is a plant <br /> ecologist. They were estimating ground cover in areas where the UAV was photographing to correlate the on-the- <br /> ground vegetative cover with the UAV photography. Ground cover was estimated in six classes: shrub, forb, <br /> grasses,rock, litter and bare ground. <br /> Number of Partial Inspection this Fiscal Year: 1 <br /> Number of Complete Inspections this Fiscal Year: 1 <br /> Page 2 of 11 <br />