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DATA COMPARISON <br />Although the Division did not collect vegetation data <br />to adequacy, it is instructive to compare the two data Sets <br />to identify why the means were seemingly so different. <br />Reclaimed areas at the Meeker Area Mines fall into three <br />general locations: the Northern ~ 1 mine area, the refuse <br />area, and the Rienau ~ 2 mine area. Twenty-two points were <br />sampled in the three areas as part of the operator's 1992 <br />vegetation study. Bond release was not requested for the <br />entire mine site. The east side of the Northern ~ 1 mine <br />was excluded because its average cover value was lower than <br />the rest of the site. Seventeen sample points fell in the <br />area requested to be released and are summarized in Table 1 <br />(transects 1-17) of the HES vegetation report. Five points <br />were placed in the excluded area and are summarized in Table <br />3 (transects A-E) of the HES report. <br />1. Areas not sampled by the Division. <br />Due to time constraints, the Division sampled only <br />eight transects. These transects fell in two of the three <br />mine areas. Four points were placed in the Northern #1 mine <br />area (two each in the east and west portions) and four were <br />sampled in the Rienau p 2 mine area. The Division was not <br />able to sample the refuse area. Additionally, no points <br />were sampled at the Northern ~ 1 topsoil stockpile area. <br />Thus, the areas which were represented in the operator's <br />data set by points 7 through 12 were not sampled by the <br />Division. These six points represented an average absolute <br />vegetative cover of 62.0$. A comparison of Division and <br />operator data should therefore not include the operator's <br />points 7 through 12. <br />2. Areas sampled by both the Division and Enron Corp. <br />Table 1 (see Appendix) lists the total vegetative cover <br />values for each sample collected at each location. The <br />graph that follows compares the spread and values of these <br />samples. <br />The average of the Division's eight sample points was <br />53.5$. If you exclude the obvious outlier (30$ collected at <br />Northern ~ 1 east which was not part of the bond release <br />request) the average of the other seven points is 56.9$. <br />The average of the 16 points collected by the operator at <br />the same mine locations is 57.9$. <br />The average of the Division's four Northern g 1 sample <br />points was 52.0$. Again, if you exclude the extreme point <br />the average of the other three points is 59.3$. The average <br />