_INSPECTION - C1980007 (18) - Laserfiche WebLink

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July 17,2013 C-1980-007/West Elk Mine JRS ROADS—Rule 4.03 Construction 4.03.1(3)/4.03.2(3)Drainage 4.03.1(4)/4.03.2(4) Surfacing and Maintenance4.03.1(5)and(6)/4.03.2(5) and(6)Reclamation 4.03.1(7)/4.03.2(7): -The main mine entrance/haul road is a paved road. The road was well maintained and stable at the time of the inspection. -The haul road to the Sylvester Gulch facilities area was well maintained and stable. The road is a gravel- surfaced road. There were no ruts or erosional problems noted on the road. The road is well graded to control erosion and BMP's are used to control sediment from the road. All of the large piles of rock that were being stored along the road have been hauled to the RPEE buttress. -The network of US Forest Service roads,used to access the active and reclaimed MDW's, are maintained by West Elk as part of their surface use agreement. These roads were all well maintained and stable and no rutting or erosional problems were noted. They were actively watering and blading the roads in their working area(the E5 panel MDW's) at the time of the inspection. RECLAMATION SUCCESS-Rule 4.15,Rule 3: -On the morning of 17 July 2013 we walked the reclaimed Long Draw Road(off of the Long Draw Saddle Road). Along the road we encountered the drill pads for MDW's 15-01, 15-02, 15-03, 15-3.5, 16-01, 16-04 and 17- 02a/17-02b. All of these pads were released from Phase I liability with the approval of SL-03 and Phase II liability with the approval of SL-04. The road and all of these pads were well vegetated and stable. There were no erosional problems noted on any of these reclaimed areas. Edith Savage sampled this area for the tenth-year vegetation monitoring. -I met up with Edith Savage of Savage and Savage on the morning of 18 July 2013 as she was doing year ten vegetation sampling on the previously released SL-03 and SL-04 areas. She was working with Richard Rowe of Mountain Coal at the time. She had been on-site the better part of the past two weeks and was hoping to finish the sampling by the week's end. The cover and diversity sampling was being done on randomly placed 25 meter transects. She was taking two samples(one on either side of her tape measure)every 1 meter along the 25 meters, for a total of 50 sample points per transect. Richard Rowe was clipping all live (2013)vegetation(grasses and forbs)in a 1/2 square meter quadrat at the 0 meter point. This sampling is consistent with good vegetation monitoring practices and the Division does not have any concerns with the data gathering being conducted for a possible Phase III Bond Release later in 2013 or early in 2014. OFFSITE SUPPORT FACILUTES-Rule 4.04,4.28: -West Elk was in the process of drilling the longwall panel E5 MDW's. MDW E54 has been drilled. The drill pad was constructed and stable and in good condition. The topsoil has been segregated and stockpiled on the edge of the drill pad. The topsoil pile has been seeded and mulched and a topsoil marker is in place. The mud pit still contains water,drilling fluid and cuttings and will be backfilled once it dries. The mud pit is fenced to limit access. There was a short road spur to access pad E54. The road was stable,with no rutting or erosional problems observed. All of the topsoil has been windrowed for later reclamation. -Drill pad E5-1/2/3 has been constructed and was stable at the time of the inspection. The drilling contractor was setting up over the first of the three holes to be drilled on the pad. This is a large pad, as it will have three MDW's on it. Jessica indicated that there was approximately three feet of topsoil on the pad. All of this topsoil has been segregated and it is three topsoil piles off of the pad. The topsoil pads have been seeded and mulched and topsoil markers are in place. There is a large,fenced mud pit on site. The mud pit was basically empty but it will fill up Number of Partial Inspection this Fiscal Year: 1 Number of Complete Inspections this Fiscal Year: 0 Page 3 of 16