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r ~ III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ~U/rP..~a,.~<;r; ~. <br />999 <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1 )1) Sherman 5~.. Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Phone: (3031 866-7567 <br />FAR: 0031 8 7 2-81 06 <br />November 18, 1993 <br />The Honorable Senator Bill Owens <br />Senate Chambers, State of Colorado <br />State Capitol Building <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />RE: Response to Letter of October 26, 1993 <br />Rimrock Coal Company, The Rimrock Strip Mine, <br />Las Animas County, Permit No. C-89-074 <br />Dear Senator Owens: <br />of c~ <br />tie <br />~~ i <br />~: <br />• ~ X816 <br />Roy Romer <br />Garerrws <br />Michael B. long <br />Division Dneaor <br />Thank you for your letter of October 26, 1993 requesting information regarding State enforcement <br />actions the Rimrock Strip Mine. I would like to provide this resDOnse to vour concerns. <br />First, I would like to assure you and your constituency that the Division does not cite violations for <br />the purpose of creating an income stream. As a regulatory agency, we have an obligation to the <br />citizens of the State to cite violations which are observed at coal mines. Some people may view <br />certain violations as inconsequential or frivolous. However, the Colorado Coal Rules have been in <br />existence for over twelve years, are very specific and have been even-handedly applied to all coal <br />mines in Colorado. Civil penalties collected by tLe Division as a result of violations revert to the <br />General Fund, not to the Division budget. <br />Regarding Cessation Order CO-93-054, the Order had in fact, been written about 4 months after a <br />professional engineer certified the embar-larLent. The photographic record of the dam at the time of <br />issuance of the Cessation Order clearly document that the dam was experiencing a structural failure. <br />This failure, which amounted to the outside portion of the dam sliding downslope, could have <br />caused blockage of the adjacent creek, thus precipitating a much ]anger environmental problem. <br />During the normal course of business, the Division does not question certi£cations provided by <br />registered professional engineers. However, when Division personnel visit a site and observe a <br />failure as obvious as the one at Rimrock, actions must be taken to resolve the physical stability <br />issues. <br />There seems to be some miscommunication between your constituent and your office regarding the <br />actions which have occured at the mine as a result of the Cessation Order being issued. <br />