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<br />~„ <br />IlllUlllllllllll~ <br />STATE OF COLORADO 999 <br />Roy Romer, Gove <br />DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES <br />MINED LAND RECLAMATION DIVISION <br />DAVID C. SHELTON, Director <br />August 4, 1987 <br />Mr. John H. Menke, III <br />Senior Engineering Technician <br />Colorado Westmoreland, Inc. <br />P.O. Box 1299 <br />Paonia; Colorado 81428 <br />Re: Orchard Valley Mine - Second Quarter of 1987 reports and East Roatcap <br />Creek Water Analysis for 1986-87, File No. C-81-038 <br />Dear John: <br />Thank you for your recent submittal of the 2nd quarter, 1987 reports for <br />NPDES, Waste Disposal Area Inspection, and Sediment Pond Structural <br />Inspection. All were found to be in order and no significant concerns were <br />noted. However, the quarterly inspection report for Sedimentation Pond No. 3 <br />mentions that there is a small amount of seepage along the outlet pipe. I <br />recommend that you attempt to quantify the maximum seepage that could be <br />expected during peek runoff periods at the mine site and predict whether this <br />amount of seepage would reduce the operational capacity of the sediment pond, <br />Depending on the outcome of your prediction minor repairs to correct the <br />seepage problem may be necessary. Your analysis and prediction may be <br />submitted in the 3rd quarter sediment pond inspection report. <br />I have also reviewed the East Roatcap Creek Water Analysis Report for 1986 and <br />1981. There appears to be a consistent trend of increasing concentration of <br />both TDS and TSS from the upper to the lower sampling station, although the <br />increase is negligible in some cases. Is the distance between the two <br />sampling stations great enough to result in an expected increase at the <br />downstream location (is this a natural occurrence)? Also, it seems reasonable <br />to expect an inverse relationship between TSS and TDS. The results for 1986 <br />and 1987 indicate a positive relationship between these two parameters. <br />Perhaps you could provide some insight into this matter. With the resolution <br />of these items I believe the 1986-1987 water quality results for East Rootcap <br />Creek indicate no mining related impacts from the Orchard Valley West Mine. <br />423 Centennial Building, 13t3 Sherman Street Denver, Colorado 80203-2273 Tel. (303) 866-3567 <br />