Laserfiche WebLink
receiving discharge from the permit and adjacent areas. The majority of flows in the White <br /> River occur between May and July in response to snowmelt. <br /> Soils in the area include the Cushman, Forelle, Pinelli, Potts, Satanka and Worfka series,which <br /> are developed on ridge tops, ridge sideslopes, and in valley fans. Underdeveloped soils such as <br /> Colorado, Haverson alkali phase, Kinnear, Moyerson, Redcreek, Rentsac, and Turley variant <br /> occur on low floodplains, extreme ridge tops, and upper ridge sideslopes. <br /> Eight plant communities have been identified in the permit area to be affected by surface <br /> operations and facilities. Vegetation communities consist of juniper woodland,juniper <br /> woodland-big sagebrush, big sagebrush,big sagebrush-wheatgrass,western wheatgrass, <br /> Colorado wildrye, cheatgrass-annual forb, and big sagebrush-greasewood. These communities <br /> comprise a mosaic controlled by soil type, topography, and past and present land uses. Historic <br /> grazing practices may have contributed to the extent of the cheatgrass-annual forb vegetation <br /> type throughout the permit area. The permit area is currently used as winter/spring range for <br /> domestic sheep. <br /> Wildlife species found within the permit area include mule deer(Odocoileus hemionus), <br /> pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), and greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). <br /> Numerous raptor species have been identified in the area. Species include the ferruginous hawk <br /> (Buteo regalis),turkey vulture (Cathartes aura),marsh hawk(Circus cyaneus),American kestrel <br /> (Falco sparverius), sharp-shinned hawk(Accipter striatus),burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), <br /> red-tailed hawk(Buteo jamaicensus), and golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). Bald eagles <br /> (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) are known to migrate <br /> through the area. Large white-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys leucurus)towns exist in the area of <br /> the refuse disposal sites. <br /> Description of the Operation and Reclamation Plans <br /> The Deserado Mine is an underground operation utilizing both continuous miners and longwall <br /> mining equipment to extract the "D" (upper) and "B" (lower) coal seams. Mining operations <br /> conducted during previous permit terms have extracted the B and D seams. D seam mining was <br /> completed in 1999. B seam mining commenced in 1999 and will continue during the current <br /> permit term. <br /> Raw coal is transported out of the mine by conveyor to the D/B-Portal Area wash plant where <br /> the coal is crushed and cleaned. The coal is then transported 3.1 miles to the rail loadout facility <br /> via an over-land conveyor system. The coal is conveyed to the slot storage building,which can <br /> store up to 25,000 tons of coal. From this building, coal is conveyed 1800 feet to the loadout <br /> area. Clean coal is then transported by electric rail to the Bonanza Power Plant in Vernal, Utah. <br /> The rail loop and facilities within the rail loop were removed from the permit and the <br /> reclamation plan with the approval of Permit Revision 04. The loadout tower is in the permit <br /> and reclamation plan, as are all of the structures that convey the coal to that point. Blue <br /> Mountain Energy will keep all operations related to the mining operations and the loading and <br /> transport of coal separate. The decision to remove the rail loop and associated facilities was <br /> vi <br />