2011-09-26_ENFORCEMENT - C1982056 (3)

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DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, MINING AND SAFETY Department of Natural Resources 1313 Sherman St., Room 215 Denver, Colorado 80203 Phone: (303) 866 -3567 FAX: (303) 832 -8106 September 26, 2011 Mr. Jerry Nettleton Twentymile Coal Company, LLC 29515 Routt County Road #27 Oak Creek, CO 80467 Dear Mr. Nettleton, Office of Mined Land Reclamation STATE OF COLORADO COLORADO D I V I S I O N O F RECLAMATION MINING — &— SAFETY John Hickenlooper Governor Mike King Executive Director Loretta E. Pineda Director RE: Foidel Creek Mine (Permit No. C -82 -056) Notice of Violation No. CV- 2011 -005, Abatement Plan Adequacy Review Response and Approval The Division received Twentymile Coal Company's (TC's) abatement plan for CV- 2011 -005 on September 21, 2011. The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety completed its preliminary adequacy review (PAR) of the proposed plan in a letter dated September 22, 2011. TC submitted responses to the Division's PAR in an email attachment dated September 22, 2011. Please note the Division's comments below: 1. Division's initial adequacy comment: Step 1 of the proposed plan states that TC will survey the existing piles of imported material at both the Ross and Deakins Pits to determine how much material is present and that this survey has already been conducted. According to Steve Baker (Deakins Pit operator) imported waste material was used to backfill much of the northern pit slope at the Deakins Pit. Please acknowledge if TC has included this material that has been backfilled into the pit slopes, in addition to the stockpiled material identified in the August 18, 2011 inspection of the Deakins Pit, in the accounting survey already conducted. Twentymile Coal Company Response: The referenced survey completed by TC documented approximately 250cy of material currently stockpiled at the Deakins Pit and a total of approximately 3,050cy of material currently stockpiled at the Ross Pit, and did not include any material backfilled into the Pit. Our conversations with Steve Baker indicated that he had blended a significant amount of soil material, excavated in the process of developing the Deakins Pit, with any waste material that was diverted to the Deakins Pit by Bower Brothers Construction. He also indicated that all material blending and backfilling was completed under the Permit approval issued by the Minerals Group of the CDRMS, and further, that previous Minerals Group inspectors had been aware of this activity, and had not expressed any concerns or raised these activities as an issue, until after the recent complaint was filed. When asked where the blended materials had been backfilled, Mr. Baker did not provide any definitive answer. Office of Denver • Grand Junction • Durango Active and Inactive Mines