BLACKWOOD FUEL CO., INC. v OSM; Docket No.  CH 8-15-R (November 6, 1978)

 TYPE: ALJ Hearing: Decision  

NAME: BLACKWOOD FUEL CO., INC., Applicant v OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND
ENFORCEMENT (OSM), Respondent  

DATE: November 6, 1978  

CASE-NO: Docket No.  CH 8-15-R  

PROCEEDING: Application for Review, Notice of Violation No. 78-I-17-5  

COUNSEL: Appearances: 

Carl F. McAfee, Esq., Cline, McAfee, Adkins & Gillenwater, P.C., Professional Arts Building, 1022 Park Avenue,
N.W., Norton, VA, for Applicant; 
 
Billy Jack Gregg, Esq., Office of the Field Solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior, for Respondent.  

OPINIONBY: Administrative Law Judge Torbett  

OPINION: DECISION  

   BACKGROUND  

   In accordance with Section 525 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (the Act), Blackwood
Fuel Company, Inc., Applicant applied on September 12, 1978 for review of a notice issued by the Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (Respondent) under Section 521(a)(3) of the Act.  

   On August 24, 1978, Respondent issued a notice of violation pursuant to Section 521(a)(3) of the Act alleging that:
(1) The operator has failed to properly surface the access road with durable material; (2) The operator has failed to
remove topsoil as a separate operation from areas to be distributed before any drilling for blasting, mining, or other
surface disturbance; (3) The operator has failed to pass all surface drainage from the distributed area through a
sedimentation pond; (4) The permittee is constructing a head of hollow fill without the approval of the regulatory
authority; and (5) Spoil and debris are being placed and allowed to remain on the down slope. {2}
 
   On November 2, 1978, a hearing was held in Wise, Virginia.  At the beginning of the hearing the attorney for the
Applicant and the attorney for the Respondent announced that it had been agreed between the parties that Violation No.
2 listed above should be vacated.  It was further agreed that the other four violations listed above were in fact true and
should be sustained.  

   ORDER  

   Notice of Violation No. 78-I-17-5 is vacated as to Violation No. 2 only and is affirmed as to Violations 1, 3, 4 and 5.  

   David Torbett  
   Administrative Law Judge
 
  Distribution: (Certified Mail)  

   Mike Thomas, Operating Official, Blackwood Fuel Company, Inc. P.O. Box 668, Norton, VA 24273  

   Carl E. McAfee, Esq., Cline, McAfee, Adkins & Gillenwater, P.C. Professional Arts Building, 1022 Park Avenue,
N.W., Norton, VA 24273  

   Associate Solicitor, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, U.S. Department of the Interior,
Washington, DC 20240  

   Office of the Field Solicitor, Office of Surface Mining, U.S. Department of the Interior, 950 East Kanawha Boulevard,
Charleston, WVA 25301