Bismarck, NorthDakota58505-0480 Web: www.psc.nd.gov E-mail:ndpsctond.gov Phone:701-328-2400 NDTollFree:1-877-245-6685 Fax:701-328-2410 TDD:800-366-6888or711 BrianKroshus JulieFedorchak RandyChristmann INSPECTIONREPORT
DATEOF INSPECTION: August 12,2020
Partial TYPEOF INSPECTION:
CoteauPropertiesCompany- Freedom Mine PERMITTEE-MINE:
PortionsofPermitsNACT-9501 andNACT-0201 PERMITSINSPECTED:
Ms. Lucille Sailer,private landowner PERSONSACCOMPANYING INSPECTORS:
The inspectionwasconducted between 10:30a.m. and 12:15 p.m. CDT. Skiesweremostlyclear. Thetemperaturewasnear80°F. Accesswas good.
INSPECTIONCONDITIONS:
OFF-SITEREVIEW
GuyWelchoftheReclamation Division received anemail from Mr.Clyde Eisenbeison August I 1,2020 indicatingthatLucille Sailer'sfarmland northofBeulah isbeingfloodedby "Coteau dumping pond water into the creek” andhe requestedthatphotosbetaken bythe Reclamation Divisionthefollowing day. Mr. Eisenbeisowns landadjacentto PermitNACT-9501 intheNW1/4ofSection34, TI46N, R88WandMs. Sailerowns land 1/2miletothenorth ofMr. EisenbeisintheNW1/4ofSection27 and she alsoowns landin portionsofSection28, which islocateddirectlytothewestacrossMercerCounty Road 15. Ms. Sailer’sfarmstead islocatednearby, inthe SE1/4ofSection28. ThecreekthatMr. Eisenbeisreferenced isanestablished unnamedephemeraltributarytoBeaverCreek BayofLake Sakakaweathatrunsthrough propertyownedbyboth Mr.Eisenbeis andMs. Sailer, aswellasother landownerstothesouth. Thecreekappearstooriginateinthe Sl/2ofSection2,T145N, R88W,about 2.5 -3 milessoutheastofthefloodedhayland intheNW1/4ofSection27.
PSC inspectors BruceBeechieandJeffRoerickmetwithMs. Sailerat 10:30a.m.onAugust 12thandshe showed usherareasofconcernthatshehad describedto Mr. Eisenbeis. TheNW1/4ofSection 27 is predominantlyhaylandwith theexceptionofabout35 acres inthe northwestcornerofthe fieldthat historicallycontainsatopographic low/wetlandcomplexdominatedbyhydrophytevegetation, namely cattails, commonbulrush,othersedgegrassesand phragmites. Ms. SailerrentstheNW1/4ofSection27 to local farmerT.J.Gustafson andMr. Gustafsonhadrecentlycompleteda secondcuttingofhayonthe tractandreturnedonSaturday, August8thtobalethe hay;however, someareaswithinthesouthwest cornerofthetractwere inundated withwaterwhenthecreekoverflowed itsbankandsaturated the adjacenthayfieldwithwaterthathad beendischargedfromCoteau sedimentpond P-Wl1-01. Asviewed
inFigure 1,thecreek inthisareaofthe hayfield isa meandering, lowgradientstreamchannelthat readilyoverflowsitsshallowbank. Theflowwithinthislowland areaofthecreek is muchmore
August 12, 2020 Page 2of5
and incised intotheunderlyingalluvium. Thehayfieldwas saturatedwithvisibleareasofstandingwater tothe pointthatMr.Gustafsonwasunabletobalehaywithinthoseareasofthefield. Itappearedthe affectedareawasabouttwoacresin size. Ms. Sailerindicatedthatsimilarwetfieldconditionswerealso locatedacrossCounty Road 15tothewestin haylandwithintheNE1/4ofSection28 borderingthecreek; however,thecreekchannel issignificantlymorecontainedwithin its banksin theNEl/4ofSection28 andwe didnotinspectthatparticularfield becausethemainareaofMs. Sailer’sconcem/complaintwas intheNW1/4ofSection27.
Figure1.
Viewofa portionofthe flooded hayfield intheNW1/4ofSection 27 Viewis towardthesouthand theSailerfarmstead isshowninthe background
Coteaurecordsindicatethatsedimentpond P-W03-04begandischargestothecreekonJuly21 and finishedon July25 withanaveragedischargeflowrateof515 GPMandatotaldischargevolumeof2.9 milliongallons,or8.9acre-feet. Morerecently,Coteau begandischargingwaterintermittentlyfrom sedimentation pond P-Wl1-01 betweenthedatesofJuly23 andAugust 12withanaveragedischarge flowrateofabout675 GPMandatotaldischargevolumeofabout 13.5 milliongallons,orabout41.4 acre-feet. Sedimentpond P-Wl1-01 is located intheNW1/4ofSection 11 inCoteau’sminingpermit NACT-0201 about2.5 milessouthofthefloodedhayfield. Ms.Flath indicatedthatonceCoteaubecame awareofthefloodinghayfieldsituationbyMs. Sailer,Coteaupersonnel immediatelytenninatedthe dischargeofsedimentpondP-Wl 1-01. Ms. Sailerreportedshehadreceived .60 inchesofrainather farmsteadonAugust 11th,which islocatedabout 1/4milesouthofthehayfield intheSW1/4 ofSection 27and CoteauPropertiesreportedtheyhadreceived .87inchesofrainonAugust 11th. Itappearedtous theprecipitationreceivedhad mostlyinfiltrated intothe soilbecausewewere abletoeasilydrivearound thehayfield,andthe ground wasgenerallydryexceptintheareaswherethecreekwaterovertopped its bank.
Waterdepthwasmeasured,and flowconditionswereobservedatseveralpointsalongthecreek. About 1/2 milesouthoftheSailer’s haylandin theNW1/4ofSection 27,waterwasactively flowingthroughthe culvert locatedalongthegravel roadbetweentheSW1/4ofSection 27andtheNW1/4ofSection 34. At thatlocationthewaterdepthmeasured 20 inchesandthewaterlevel in thecreekchannelwasabout4feet belowthesurroundingcropland. WherethecreekpassesunderCounty Road 15 intheNW1/4ofSection 27 adjacenttothe hayfield,thewaterwas activelyflowingthroughtheconcrete boxculvertandthewater depthwas 1 foot. FurthertothenorthwherethecreekcrossesNDHighway 1806throughthreeconcrete culverts,thewaterwasnotflowingand measuredabout 1 footin depth.
Figure2 showsaconstructeddiversionthatruns in aneast-to-westdirectionalongthesouthsideofthe NW1/4ofSection27. Thediversionwasapparentlyconstructedyears agotodirectandcontainstream flowcomingfromtheeast,butalsoconvergeswiththecreekcomingfrom thesouth.
Figure2
ConstructeddiversionalongsouthsideoftheSailerhayfield in theNW1/4ofSection27 Viewistowardthesouthwestwith theSailerfarmstead inthebackground
-*? -V. •vS*-''■ *
am
■' ■ —. .
Ms. Sailerstatedthatwhen shewasnotified ofthefloodedhayland byherrenter,shecontactedCoteau aboutthesituation. Coteau’sEnvironmental ManagerSarah Flath andCoteau’sLandownerRelations Manager,Rylan Sundsbakvisited withMs. Saileratthehayfieldthathadflooded. Ms.Sailerstatedthat Ms.FlathandMr. SundsbakreadilyadmittedthewaterwasfromCoteau’ssedimentationpondsandthey toldherthatCoteauwouldpayforthe haythatwasflooded. Ms. Sailertoldusthatjustpayingforthe haywasnotenoughandthatshealsowantedpaymentforfuelandpersonal timedealingwiththeissue. Ms. Sailerstated shehashad someongoingissueswithCoteauovertheyearsregardingminingand reclamationoftheSailerpropertythatwasminedtotheeast inPermitNACT-9501. Someofher concernsandcomplaintstoCoteauapparentlyinvolved suchthingsasCoteauminingclosertothe
August 12, 2020 Page 4of5
originalfarmstead in Section26thanwhatshethoughtwasgoingtobemined,careandmanagementof plantedtrees,locationandmaintenanceoffencing,cattailsgrowingaroundtheperipheryofconstructed stockponds,waterlevelsofconstructedstockponds,noxiousweedcontrol,etc.
Ms. Sailerstatedthataboveallelse, hermainconcernwasthe lackofcommunicationbetweenCoteau andherandwithherrenter,Mr. Gustafson. ShestatedthatifCoteauhadsimplygiventhem acall regardingsedimentponddischarges,theycouldhavemadeotherarrangementssothefloodingonthecut haycropwould nothavehappened, orperhapsCoteaucouldhavedelayedthedischargeuntilthehayhad beenbaledandhauled offsite,oratleasttransportedtoadifferentareaofthehayfieldawayfromthe creek.
Section 2.2.4ofPennitNACT-0201 istheSurfaceWaterProbable HydrologicConsequencesandPage3 underTemporary RunoffandSedimentControlsdescribesCoteau’sproceduresforcontacting
downstream landownerstominimize potentialadversedownstream impactstofarmingorhaying operationsfromsedimentation ponddischarges. WeareawarethatCoteauhashistoricallycontacted landownersinthepastofupcomingponddischargesandCoteauhasprovideduswitharecentexample of thisinthissamewatershed. Coteaualsorespondedto ourrequestforsedimentpond discharge
informationand indicatedthatitwasnotclearlyevidenttothem atthetimethathayingoperationswere ongoingorpendingattheSailerproperty. Coteau’sresponsealsostatedthattheyhavecommittedtoMs. Sailerthatin the future,shewould be provided notificationpriortoeverydischargeevent.
GROUND WATER
Waterlevelsweremeasuredfrom groundwatermonitoringwellsMP93-P01AandMP93-P01B. These monitoringwellsarelocated intheroadditchwithintheNW1/4NW1/4ofSection27,T146N, R88W, which is atthenorthendofthewetlandcomplexintheSailerhayfieldthatwas investigatedtoday. Both wellsaremonitoringground wateroftheAntelopeCreek aquiferoftheBeulahTrenchand bothwells have historicallydocumentedveryhighwater levels. Anelectronicwaterleveltapewasusedtomeasure depth togroundwaterandPM93-P01Ameasured2.76feetbelowthemeasuringpoint(topofcasing)and MP93-P01Bmeasured4.45 feettogroundwaterbelowmeasuringpoint. Thesemeasurementsequateto groundwaterelevationsof1853.34 feetand 1851.13 feetrespectively,orabout9 inchesand27inches belowgroundlevel, respectively.
MISCELLANEOUS
Additional photographstakenduringthe inspectionareonfilewiththeReclamationDivision. Enclosed isamap depictingtheaffected area,creek, sedimentpond P-Wl1-01,andotherrelevantdepictions.
JpffRoerick
Environmental Scientist
Bruce Beechie
Environmental Scientist
cc: SarahFlath
OSMCasperField Office MercerCountyAuditor
