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<br />Abandonment <br />Mining Site <br /> <br />Portals will be sealed with reinforced concrete. Roads other than county, <br />will be covered with rock and soil and seeded as in rehabilitation plan. <br />Surface structures will be removed entirely, including concrete foundations. <br />Soil will be spread over the area and seeded. All signs of past mining <br />activity will be removed. <br />All of the waste and spoil dumps or plots will have been reclaimed on a <br />continuing progressive basis; only the final plot would remain, but will be <br />reclaimed within 1 year of final abandonment of the mining operation. <br />The utility corrdior may or may not be rehabilitated depending upon the land <br />uses within the area at the time of the mine closure. All of the buried <br />utilities could be abandoned in place and the road used for general public <br />access. The right-of-way grant will include appropriate rehabilitation <br />measures that will have to be followed if the utilities and road are not <br />needed for other uses. The same situation is true for the coal transportation <br />system. <br />Coal Transportation--Routes and Methods For Transporting <br />The preferred transporation route and method to be used for transporting the <br />coal have not been determined by the company. However, of the three routes, A <br />and B are considered the most technically feasible to build by standard <br />construction practices. Route A provides the best average grade and slope of <br />the land allowing for efficient operation of unit trains. Transportation <br />routes are shown on map 5. Route B (and part of route C) is currently an <br />existing transportation corridor. Routes A and B -- using trucks and unit <br />trains -- are analyzed for this assessment. Route C is evaluated for <br />comparative purposes. <br />Total acreage disturbed for the transportation route would be approximately 75 <br />acres. Impacts would vary depending upon the final route and method selected. <br />Before issuance of rights-of-way on public land a more detailed transportation <br />study will be required. If the PRLAs are issued, BLM would work with the <br />company and all appropriate regulatory authorities to analyze the site <br />specific transportation proposal. <br />The three methods considered by the Company for transporting the coal include: <br />trucking, railroad, or conveyor belt. A slurry was also considered, but, <br />along with long-term trucking and conveyor belt methods, were found <br />impractical and economically unfeasible methods. The method most likely to be <br />used would be trucking for the first 2 or 3 years until railroad construction <br />is completed. <br />Regardless of which transportation route and method are chosen, all other <br />portions of the proposed action would remain the same. <br />Further descriptions of the transportation routes and methods follow. <br />2-22 <br />