2004-08-05_REVISION - M2000158 (4)

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STATE OF COLORADO DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY Department of Natural Resources 1313 Sherman St, Room 215 Denver, Colorado 80203 Phone: (303) 866-3567 FAX: (303) 832-8106 DATE: August 5, 2004 TO: Erica Crosby FROM: Allen Sorenson~~ RE: Utility Protection and Crossings, Longhorn and Sharkey Lakes Cutoff Wall Construction, Platte Sand and Gravel, LLC, 5 & H Mine,Permit Amendment AM-001, Permit No. M-2000-158 COLORADO DIVISION O F MINERALS GEOLOGY 4EC LAM ATION•MI NING SAf ETY•SCIENCE Bill Owens Governor Russell George Executive Director Ronald W. Cottony Division DirecTOr Natural Resource Trustee In an effort to address the requirements of Rule 6.4.19 of the Construction Materials Rules and Regulations of the Mined Land Reclamation Board, the Applicant has provided a document listing the slurry wall contractor's (Envirocon) anticipated utility location and crossing procedures. This listing of anficipated procedures is acceptable to the Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG) from a technical standpoint. However, the document provided does not meet the standard to fully address the requirements of Rule 6.4.14. The list of anticipated procedures states "Envirocon will contact the owners of identified utilities to determine emergency contacts and procedures, and specific requirements for crossing the utility, if any." First, since the list of anticipated procedures was prepared by Envirocon and is worded as a list of procedures to be taken by Envirocon, it must be made clear to the Applicant and must be clear in the permit documents that the list of anticipated procedures is a list of permit requirements, enforceable by DMG against the Applicant/Permittee. Second, at the stage where the owners of identified utilities are being contacted, the Applicant should endeavor to obtain: • a notarized agreement with the owner(s) of the utility stating that the Applicant is to provide compensation for any damage to the structure (Rule 6.4.19(a)), or, • a notarized letter, on the Utility's letterhead and from the owner(s) of the utility, that the slurry wall construction will have "no negative effect" on their utility (Rule 6.4.19(c)). If the Applicant is unable to obtain either of these notarized documents for any of the proposed stony wall crossings of utilities, then the utility crossings will be, in effect, forced crossings as anticipated under Rule 6.4.19(b). To implement such a forced crossing, the Applicant must provide to DMG a specific engineering plan for each crossing, either implementing one of the methods in the anticipated list of procedures or otherwise, and gain specific DMG approval for each forced crossing prior to excavation activities conducted to expose the utility at each specific forced crossing. Under the assumption that permit amendment AM-001 will be approved, and in accordance with the foregoing discussion, the issues related to 6.4.19 can be resolved by including the following stipulation in the approval: For each crossing of a utility line during slurry wall construction, the Operator must provide DMG notarized documents in accordance with Rule 6.4.19(a) or Rule 6.4.19(c). These notarized documents must be accepted and approved by DMG prior to any excavations to expose the utilities. Alternatively, the Operator may provide an engineering plan for each proposed utility crossing for which an acceptable notarized document is not obtained. Each crossing plan must be approved by DMG prior to any excavations to expose the utilities. cc: Carl Mount, DMG (via email) coats\LOANER MACINEVMy Documents\S & H shirty wall utility xings.doc Office of Office of Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Active and Inactive Mines Geological Survey