PERMFILE72440 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Methane Drainage Wells Project Plan Technical Revision 101; Holes 19-09, 19-10 and 19-11 Page 10 of 14 Initially, MSHA may require monitoring and inspection of the active de-gas installation twice daily after installation. It is anticipated the frequency of monitoring would decrease to a weekly monitoring and inspection of the installation. Routine maintenance will occur to the extent necessary, simultaneous with the weekly monitoring. PROPOSED DRILL HOLE PLUGGING METHODS In accordance with the Coal Program Guidance Document -Methane Drainage and Monitoring Wells, MCC will plug and abandon these MDWs per DMG Rules 2.05.4 and 4.07.3 at the minimum. A mechanical packer will be set at the lowest possible point in the well (note that subsidence damage to the casing may preclude access to the entire depth of the casing). Above this packer the hole will be plugged with CDMG approved materials to the bottom of the 5-foot cement surface cap using tremmie line. The top 5- feet of the well below the sub-surface casing cut-off point (3-feet below the surface} will be plugged with a cement cap. The top 3-feet of the casing will then be cut off and the hole filled in with subsoil. A permanent mazker shall be installed on top of the plug identifying the MDW. The pad will then be reclaimed to approximate original contour. The Methane Drainage Well drilling experience for Mountain Coal Company has shown that no aquifers have yet been encountered. However, the procedures described above would serve to properly protect any aquifers that would be encountered. A drawing depicting a typical abandoned MDW is attached as Figure No. 1, Proposed GVB/MDW Hole Plugging Method. RECLAMATION PLAN Reclamation of pads and roads will follow when it is decided by MCC that the drill holes are not performing their intended purpose. 1. Upon completion of each phase of activity at a given site, all debris, trash, and drilling related equipment, or de-gas housing will be removed from the site. 2. When the mud pit or pits are sufficiently dry, they will be filled with stored sub-soil material and compacted to minimize any settling. 3. A backhoe and a bulldozer will redistribute material on and around the drill pad to achieve as closely as practicable the original contour of the site. The area will then be ripped or scarified. 4. Stored topsoil will be distributed as evenly as possible over the disturbed pad area. 5. Although not required because the surface ownership for this project is private, the entire drill pad area and reclaimed roads will be re-seeded using the USFS/CDMG-agreed seed mix (described below) for reclamation purposes on National Forest Service lands (correspondence regazding MCC