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• (Page 3) <br />MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID # M-77-361 <br />INSPECTION DATE Sentember 9. 1997 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS T~ <br />OBSERVATIONS <br />1. A site inspection was made of the Silica Quarry now operated by Southdown, Inc. The purpose <br />of the inspection was to estimate the extent of disturbance and to calculate a current reclamation <br />cost. Southdown, Inc. became the successor operator of the quarry on March 5, 1997. <br />2. The quarry may be permitted for approximately 10,0 acres of disturbance. A financial warranty <br />of S5,000 has been submitted in the form of a corporate surety. The post-mining land use is <br />agricultural, ie: dry pasture. Throughout the permit file various corre spondance lists permitted <br />acreages of either 10.0, 9.9, or 9.5 acres. Also, there are no mining or reclamation plan maps <br />within the file which clearly define the permit boundary. The Division considers this matter to <br />be a problem that will require corrective actions by the operator. Therefore, the Division <br />requests that the operator submit a set of mining plan and reclamation plan maps in conformance <br />with the requirements of Rule 6.3.5 of the Construction Materials Rules & Regulations which clearly <br />define the permit boundary and permitted acreage. Please be sure that the permit boundary includes <br />all disturbed areas under the permit and sufficient buffer areas outside of highwalls so there is <br />enough room within the permit boundary to reduce the highwalls by drilling, blasting, and regrading <br />as described in No. 4 below. Please see page 3 for details. <br />3. There are 6.34 acres currently disturbed according to the most recent annual report. The <br />acreage was verified during the site inspection. The disturbance consists of 4.6 acres of quarry <br />disturbance and 1.74 acres of adjacent overburden and topsoil stockpiles and processing area <br />disturbance. The quarry is currently active and contains near verical highwalls on four (4) sides <br />plus a working face "highwall" in the center of the quarry. There appears to be adequate topsoil <br />salvaged to apply a 3" cover as specified in the reclamation plan. The highwall disturbance as <br />measured during the inspection includes the following: 1050 linear feeh at 15 feet high, 315 linear <br />feet at 40 feet high, and 540 linear feet at 60 feet high. <br />4. The reclamation plan specifies that highwalls will be reduced to maximum slopes of 2:1, a <br />topsoil cover of Z-4 inches will be reapplied, and the site will be revegetated to agricultural <br />use with a dry pastureland seed mix. The Division has calculated a total cost of $20,993 in order <br />to achieve this reclamation plan (see attached cost}. Please note that this cost was calculated <br />based on highwall reduction by drilling, blasting, and regrading rather than importing fill <br />material and backfilling. Backfilling of highwalls will require approximately 99,417 cubic yards <br />of fill material and appears to be cost prohibitive as there is little, if any, material on site <br />that can be used to backfill the highwalls. Accordingly, the existing 55,000 financial warranty <br />is inadequate to complete the requirements of the reclamation plan. Therefore, the Division <br />considers this matter to be problem that will require corrective actions by the operator. In <br />accordance with the requirements of Rule 4.2.1(2), the Division requests that the operator submit <br />within 60 days, either a replacement warranty of $21,000 or an additional $16,000 financial <br />warranty. I have enclosed financial warranty forms for your use. Please see page 3 for additional <br />details. <br />5. The operator has posted an entrance sign. However, there were no permit boundary markers to <br />identify the permitted area. The Division considers this matter to be a problem that will require <br />corrective actions by the operator. Therefore, the Division requests that the operator identify <br />[he permit boundary as required by Rule 3,1.12 of the Construction Materials Rules ~ Regulations <br />within 30 days. Please see page 3 for details. <br />6. The operator has done a good job of salvaging available topsoil at the site. <br />I & E Contact Address cc: Carl Mount, DMG <br />^ CE <br />