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Drill Hole Sealing <br />When no longer required, exploration drill holes or other drilled holes or exposed underground <br />openings will be capped, sealed, backfilled, or otherwise properly managed to prevent access by <br />persons, livestock, fish and wildlife and machinery. Sealing will also prevent contact between <br />surface and ground waters and eliminate the potential for co- mingling and potential contamination. <br />Exploration drill holes and other drill holes will be sealed in one of the following ways, dependent <br />upon presence of ground water in the drill hole. <br />Exploration drill holes and other drill holes not completed to aquifers will be sealed by replacing <br />cuttings or other suitable material in the hole and placing an appropriate plug approximately ten feet <br />below the ground surface. A cement (or other suitable media) plug will be placed in the hole to a <br />depth of approximately three feet below the ground surface. The remaining three feet will be filled <br />with native earth or other suitable material. The hole will be marked. <br />Exploration drill holes and other drill holes completed in aquifers not exhibiting artesian flow will <br />be sealed by placing a cement plug extending approximately twenty feet above and below the water <br />bearing zone. A surface plug will be placed as with dry holes. In the case of a hole exhibiting <br />artesian flow at the surface, the hole will be sealed by placing cement from the bottom of the hole to <br />within approximately ten feet of the ground surface. A surface plug will then be installed. Holes <br />will be marked. <br />In shallow soil borings not penetrating bedrock (typically 30 feet deep or less), MCC will abandon <br />the dry holes by shoveling the cuttings back into the holes. No contamination will occur and <br />natural healing will augment MCC efforts. <br />In instances where sealing of drill holes encountering alluviun or bedrock are not specifically <br />addressed under a coal exploration drilling permit, MCC will prepare an abandonment report and <br />submit the report as soon as possible following completion of the plugging and abandonment <br />project, but typically by the end of the calendar year in which it was completed. The report will <br />contain the information identified in Rule 4.07.3(3). <br />Reclamation procedures for wells are also discussed elsewhere in Section 2.05.4 and Exhibit 53. <br />Utilities <br />All surface facilities and structures that involved the placement of utilities specifically serving the <br />West Elk Mine will be removed. Disturbances associated with the utility facilities will be reclaimed <br />using the methods described earlier under Site - Specific Reclamation Procedures. <br />2.05 -87 Rev. 11196 - PR07; 04106 -PR10; 12114- TR136 <br />