PERMFILE66914

• Permit No: M1977424
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 10/3/1977
• Doc Name: APPLICATION FOR REGULAR PERMIT
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

• RATIONALE

Vegetation cannot become established and grow with the continued build-up
of the disposal pile or continued use of associated disturbance areas, therefore
reclamation cannot commence until the pile is completed, mineral waste are no
longer being added and operations are terminated. Presently, the termination
date has been estimated at 2040. Within a year of completion of operations or
abandonment, reclamation will take place in order,to restore the vegetative
cover to a productive condition similar and visually compatible with comparable
natural talus slopes in the vicinity.
RECLAMATION PLAN DESIGN
Figure 6 shows an artist's conception of the appearance of the waste disposal.
pile after its completion. As shown on Figure 6, the pile will have one level at
the altitude of the upper mine portal and a second level area at the altitude of
the lower portal. In his rendition the artist has shown the upper part of the
pile, above the lower portal vegetated. The artist has shown the lower part of
the pile, below the lower portal, as it would appear before reclamation. The level
benches are 10 acres and the talus slopes 20 acres.
The major reclamation problem associated with mine-run raw shale (rock
material produced from mining operation) is the texture of the material. Raw
shale has very poor water holding capacity; less than two percent by weight of
the raw shale is made up of less than 3/8 inch material. Consequently, a fine
textured "soil like material" will have to be placed on the surfaces planned for
reclamation. "Soil like material" at least six inches thick will provide a proper
seed bed for native and introduced plants to become established and grow. The
"soil like material" will be obtained from road right-of-ways and the toe of the
present pile which will be extended out over this cleared (of soil) area. A
stockpile of "soil like material" at the toe of the disposal pile (30 acres
eventually) will serve dual roles; first, it will serve as a stockpile area for
the "soil like material" from disposal areas, and road right-of-ways; second, it
will serve as a sediment impoundment for erosion control and water quality
evaluation. The impoundment will be less than 10 foot in height with a spillway
one foot below the impoundment crest. The location will be within the toe area
of the 30 acre disposal pile.
The following is the species mixture for shallow disturbed soils in the
DeBeque area with 10-14 inches of rainfall:
BROADCAST SEEDING RATE (P.L.S.)
GRASS: lbs/Acre
* Agropyron dasystachyum - critana (thick spike wheat grass) 24
A. desertorum - nordan (crested wheat grass) 2
A. intermedium - Oahe (intermediate wheat grass) 4
* A. smithii Western wheat grass) 4
* A. trach caulum - primar (slender wheat grass) 4
* A. spicatum - Blue bunch wheat grass) 2
* Or zo sis h menoides - (Indian rice grass) 2
* Stipa comata - needle-and-thread) 2