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( f <br />6. Power and Communication Lines. The major power line runs <br />across the North boundary of the property to the residence and then <br />from the residence to the garages. Another power communication <br />pole runs from the west within the trapezoid area (not owned by <br />this applicant) to the garages. Neither of these lines are within <br />200 feet of any point of the pit at its maximum proposed area of <br />excavation (red line). <br />There is a telephone line, as shown, through which the expanded <br />excavation will occur. This telephone line previously ran to property <br />within the Chatfield Dam flood control plain and is not in use and <br />can be removed as the structures to which it previously extended <br />service have been demolished. The lines are dead and the poles <br />inoperative from the westernmost boundary of the applicant/owner's <br />property. This vestige will be removed as necessary for excavation <br />northward. <br />C. The existing topography of the area is shown on Map "C-3" <br />attached to this narrative. The area to be excavated is nearly in its <br />entirety bordered on the West by a bluff with an elevation of 5550 feet <br />and bordered on the East by the Highline Canal right-of-way with an <br />elevation of 5,530 feet. From the bluff, proceeding East, to the Highline <br />Canal will be a depression as a result of the excavation, and in final <br />reclamation, a depression will remain. The depth of the existing floor <br />level is between 5520 feet at the northern end of the existing pit and <br />5514 feet at the southern end of the pit. The contour lines are in <br />black and the elevation of the outer perimeter of the existing pit, the <br />blue line, is 5,530 feet, with a variance of one foot either way. <br />D. The total area to be involved in the operation when the pit is <br />fully expanded is 24.2 acres. Presently the pit size is of 8 acres. <br />E. The type of present vegetation covering the affected area is <br />native prairie grasses and weeds as more fully defined in Exhibit "J". <br />It should be noted the area within which the future mining will occur, <br />with the exception of a small parcel beyond the 5,550 foot contour line <br />in the south central area of the property, has never been farmed because <br />of the terrain and the inability to traverse the same with farm machinery. <br />Farming at best, as noted even by the Environmental Biologist for the <br />State of Colorado in his wildlife report, has been marginal ("Area has <br />been farmed and grazed. Both with an apparent lack of success due to <br />porous gravel soils"). The affected area is, again, of native grasses <br />and weeds, totally barren of any trees. Because of its proximity to the <br />front range and the wind path within which it exists, even though the <br />topsoil is quite rich, the affected area has not in the past naturally <br />supported any tree life. <br />F. Water resources are nonexistent within the affected area. The <br />excavation will never pierce the water table, the operation now is a dry <br />pit and will continue that way as the water table is some 50 feet from <br />the lowest point of the pit at this point in time. <br />G. Soil information is more extensively provided in Exhibit "I", <br />which also indicates depth of the water table. <br />H. There are no aerial photos attached. <br />EXHIBIT "C" - Premining and Mining Plan Maps <br />Affected Lands Explanation <br />Page 2 <br />