Document o9Ywd2mdjwkpqM9JDRYQOxK37

ft EA~ UnitedStates ~ Environmental Protectton ,..,. Agency Region 6 Compliance Assurance and Enforcement Division INSPECTION REPORT Inspection Date(s): Media: Regulatory Program(s) 07/18/2017 Water CWA 308[A][B] Company Name: Facility Name: Facility Physical Location: (city, state, zip code) Mailing address: (city, state, zip code) County/Parish : Facility Contact: Farrell Cooper Mining Company Liberty Mine #7 20248 Airport Road Stigler, Oklahoma 74462 6001 South Zero Street Fort Smith, Arkansas 72903 Haskell County Thoma s Gi lbert tgi lbert@farrellcooper.com I Environmental Analyst FRS Number: Identification/Permit Number: Media Number: NAICS: SIC: 110041914596 OKG040041 NA 212111 1221 Personnel participating in inspection: David Long USEPA/6EN-WM Amy Matthews USEPA/6EN-WM Kent Sanborn USEPA/6EN-WM Jason Ma ODEO/Water Quality Environmental Scientist Environmental Engineer Environmental Engineer Environmental Engineer 214.665.7323 214.907.0638 918.557.1615 405.702.8100 EPA Lead Inspector Signature/Date Supervisor Signature/Date ~;/~ {Inspector name} (J VJa-vv/'-~1~~ {Supervisor name} ~~~{)yfo' I J Date fc},ls-/17 Date 6ENFORM-019-R7 (2/15/2017) 1 Liberty Mine #7/Farrell Cooper Mining Company 07/18/2017 Section I - INTRODUCTION PURPOSE OF THE INSPECTION A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) compliance evaluation inspection was performed at the Farrell Cooper Mining Company facility, liberty Mine #7, located at 20248 Airport Road in Stigler, Oklahoma 74462 on July 18, 2017. The inspection was conducted under the guidelines established by the USEPA under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) for wastewater dischargers. This targeted site visit was performed as a part of the USEPA National Enforcement Initiative industrial inspection commitment and its' purpose was to inspect and review current operations as compared to their NPDES permit requirements. An entry briefing was conducted by EPARegion 6 inspectors David Long, Amy Andrews, and Kent Sanborn at 12:50 p.m. The EPA inspectors were accompanied by Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality Inspector Jason Ma. The inspectors met with Thomas Gilbert, Environmental Analyst for Farrell Cooper Mining Company who was present throughout the inspection. During the entry briefing, the inspectors provided credentials and explained the purpose of the inspection. FACILITY DESCRIPTION liberty Mine #7 is a minor discharger that operates under NPDES Permit OKG0404111 with discharge limitations for the expected wastewater flows from sedimentation and storm water runoff ponds. The current permit was issued on December 1, 2013 and expires on October 31, 2018. Any discharge from the mine is to an unnamed tributary of Taloka Creek which is part of Segment Number 220300 of the Lower Arkansas River Basin. liberty Mine #7 is expected to produce approximately 500 million tons of low sulfur or "power plant" coal during its' lifetime, however, at the time of the inspection, the mine had not been operating ("in cessation") for the past five to seven years. Section II- OBSERVATIONS During the site tour, no equipment, chemical storage, nor active mining was observed. Mr. Gilbert indicated that the site had been mined in the past, but the mined areas, representing approximately 40% of the total mine acreage, had been refilled and reclaimed. Further, Mr. Gilbert stated that the mine would only be reopened when the appropriate buyer was available to purchase the coal. Despite the current lack of a buyer, the facility's discharge permit is maintained to allow rapid re-opening of the mine. Finally, while there is no active mining at this site, Farrell Cooper Mining Company does perform regular monitoring and report DMR data for any discharges at their outfalls. Section Ill- AREAS OF CONCERN At the conclusion of the inspection, the EPA inspector spoke with Mr. Gilbert for an exit interview at 1:15 p.m. on July 18, 2017. At that time, the inspectors provided details of the inspection and 2