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<br />maintain a proposed limestone production level of 1.5 million tons per year. The total <br />area affected by mining in any one given yeaz will be only about 15.i acres. As the <br />panels progress, top soil will be removed from unmined areas and carried behind current <br />production panels and redeposited upon land from which the limestone and sandstone <br />have been removed. and covered with graded overburden, depending on weather <br />conditions and seasonal revegetation periods. The combined area of active mining, <br />processing, stockpiling, and reclamation will not exceed 70 acres. No more than 15.5 <br />acres will be disturbed and subject to wind erosion in the surface mine at a given time. <br />Blasting will be conducted by a federal- and state-licensed blaster. The expected blasting <br />agent will be a mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil (ANFO), as well as a high- <br />explosive booster agent. This material is carried onto the site in bulk trucks and v<~ill not <br />be stored on site: Blasting may be required for the removal of some hard overburden <br />material; but this is not expected until all of the low overburden area has been exhausted. <br />Blast holes will be contained within the Ft. Hays Limestone and the Codell Sandstone, <br />with average hole depths to be that of the mining height and 4 inches to 6.25 inches <br />diameter. <br />A scraper will be used to remove unconsolidated materials (i.e., soils and subsoils) that <br />will be placed in designated storage areas, adjacent to each production panel for easy re- <br />application to the mined area. It is proposed that each 15.5-acre area will be fully <br />reclaimed by placing the overburden material from the adjacent panel on the floor of the <br />• pit and then reapplying the subsoil and topsoil, except for active roadways along which <br />the conveyor belt will be extended. <br />Approximately 18,000 tons per year of Codell Sandstone that lies directly below the <br />limestone will be removed. The sandstone will be moved to the plant via the same route <br />as the limestone: truck to crusher and enclosed conveyor belt to plant. The actual <br />thickness of the material to be removed will vary between 2 and 6 ft depending upon <br />quality of this unit. <br />Upon reclamation, the surface elevation in the surface mine area will be lowered an <br />average of 30 ft due to removal of the limestone and sandstone (except when the <br />limestone layer thickness is minimal, caused by ancient weathering and erosion), and <br />only a 25% to 30% swell factor for the approximately 10 ft of overburden replaced. The <br />physical extent of the lowering in surface elevation is controlled by the thickness of the <br />total of the soil, overburden rock, and the elevation at the base of the Ft. Hays Limestone <br />unit. <br />Storm water will be diverted from the soil removal area via ditches' maintained at the <br />perimeter of the production panels. Silt fences, constructed of small hay bales, will be <br />applied in those areas where storm water may run off of roadways and other bare soil <br />locations. Runoff from mined and other disturbed azeas will be collected in a settling <br />pond. Discharges (if any) will be subject to NPDES regulations. Design of these <br />structures is based on the area that is to be diverted to the impoundment. The total <br />U <br />AppEalribitsA-T-APPQ I80)RevB/January 17, 2002 D-3 <br />