REV01635 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Exhibit E RECLAMATION PLAN- 1998 CLARIFICATION Rex Quarry The affected land shall be reclaimed to its original land use of limited wildlife habitat. Due to the severity of slope of the terrain and the hard rock outcropping, it would not be applicable to other uses. The general reclamation plan is to backfill or grade affected areas with sandstone overburden to various depths and reduce the slopes on man made fill in and outside the quarried areas but within the affected acreage boundary A diverse topography highly suited to its reclaimed use will be built which incorporates varying slopes, highwalls or cliff's, talus slopes and small canyons or steep sided gullies with rock walls. The area will be revegetated with a mixture of native species in addition to suitable nurse crop species. The seed will be spread with conventional seeding methods, applied as a hydromulch or hand broadcast at 18 lbs. per acre during the growing season. The method of backfilling the quarried area with sandstone overburden and other excess quamed material was chosen as the best means of achieving reclamation of the affected land for two (2) main reasons: 1. The sandstone overburden will consist of a sufficient quantity of fine material which will allow root growth of grasses, and shrubs while still containing enough larger rock to maintain erosional stability. The quarried area does not have a suitable amount of recoverable topsoil and would otherwise be barren rock with no, or very little, chance for any revegetation. 2. The sandstone overburden must be removed to obtain the marketable limestone and therefore must be disposed of If not replaced in the disturbed areas it would require an additional disturbance of many acres. The proposed post mining land use will be very compatible with similar terrain to the East, North and South of the current quarry. The steep barren hogback formations do not have any productive use other than occasional and limited wildlife habitat. This will also match local land use plans and programs which designate the vicinity as open. Implementation of this reclamation plan will rehabilitate the affected land closely to the existing conditions of natural vegetation which now consists of Mountain mahogany, Bitter brush, Rabbit brush and Indian rice grass. Although it is not required, over 300 Pinon seedlings have been planted since 1990. There has been somt success but the greatest success occurred when seeds were hand scattered and left to germinate naturally. Through 1997 over three and one-half (3.5) acres have been graded and seeded and although some Pinon pines are growing, the greatest success has been the grading and plant cover in those areas. We have noticed from test plots for trees planted over the years that trees are difficult to establish in the azea, therefore they have been left out of the seed mixture in Paragraph 6.5, a. We do, however encourage voluntary growth of trees in the azea and may continue to hand scatter seeds on occasion. Water, air and soil will not be permanently altered by the mining activity. There is no water present in the proposed mining area. The air quality will not be damaged or permanently altered. The current soil which consists of rock outcropping will consist of fragmented rock when rehabilitated.