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Mine Site Inspection
<br />Mine Name: Seneca II -W
<br />Permittee: Seneca Coal Company, LLC
<br />Permit ID #: C- 1982 -057
<br />Inspection Date: June 4, 2013 9:00 — 3:15 (DRMS inspection continued after OSM departure)
<br />Inspection Type: Phase I Bond Release (138.7 acres)
<br />Weather Conditions: Warm (70's), scattered clouds, dry ground conditions
<br />Participants:
<br />Christine Belka, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM)
<br />Alan Boehms, OSM
<br />Jared Ebert, Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (DRMS)
<br />Jay James, consultant for Seneca Coal Company (SCC)
<br />Roy Karo, SCC
<br />Jennifer Maiolo, Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
<br />This was a Phase I bond release inspection for 138.7 acres of the total 1,285.3 acres of disturbance within
<br />the Seneca II -W permit area. The Seneca 1I -W Mine produced Federal coal and OSM is a co -payee on
<br />the reclamation bond. DRMS administers the bond release process in part through the State- Federal
<br />Cooperative Agreement found at 30 CFR, Part 906.30.
<br />The November 15, 2012 bond release application and subsequent correspondence in the record document
<br />that SCC provided notifications of the bond release as required by Colorado Rule 3.03.2(1), Procedures
<br />for Seeking Release of Performance Bond. These notifications included the surface and mineral owners
<br />of the permit area proposed for release, surface landowners adjacent to the permit area, local, State, and
<br />Federal governmental agencies, utility companies, holders of easements on the property, and the public at
<br />large. DRMS did not receive any comments concerning the proposed bond release.
<br />Prior to the inspection OSM reviewed recent DRMS inspection reports for the Seneca II -W Mine and the
<br />SL -4 bond release application. Jared Ebert began the inspection at the mine office by orienting all
<br />inspection participants to the areas proposed for bond release and setting out a plan for evaluating those
<br />areas in the field. Because this is a Phase I application, the goal of this inspection is to verify that areas
<br />have been backfilled and re- graded and that drainage control has been established in the designated areas
<br />in accordance with the approved plan.
<br />The areas proposed for bond release include roads (County Road 53C, Haul Road A, Haul Road J, and
<br />Haul Road K), drainages (PM -2D and PM -4D), 9 stock ponds (T -2, T -3, T -5, T -18, T -20, T -22, T -24, T-
<br />26, and T -27), 6 sediment ponds (005, 006, 009, 015, 016, and 017), a water well, and the shop area. Mr.
<br />Ebert had field- verified that some areas met Phase I requirements prior to this inspection, but offered to
<br />reevaluate those areas while all participants were present. No participants expressed interest in re-
<br />evaluating specific areas.
<br />Drainage Channels (Rules 4.05.1 and 4.05.3):
<br />Although the interior of the PM -2A cross -drain is stable and well constructed, the outside (downhill)
<br />slope is rilling in multiple locations (see photo # 11587). This is due to spring snowmelt which erodes the
<br />slope as runoff exits the channel at unintended locations. SCC will repair these areas under normal rill and
<br />gully maintenance this summer. Surge tanks in the area were empty and stable at the time of inspection.
<br />Although SCC has had some breakage of plastic surge tank discharge pipes, evaluated pipes were intact.
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