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<br />iii iiniiiiiiiii iii <br />999 <br />PREDECISIONAL DRAFT Revised l2/28/94 <br />'~ <br />KERR COAL COMPANY ~ ." ~; <br />MARK STRIP, _ E~..~yr <br />-i ~.o' Vic`, wV" •. - <br />$ackground ~ "~~ <br />The Western Support Center and the Albuquerque Field Office, in cooperation with the State <br />of Colorado, have been assigned the responsibility to develop a reclamation plan for the Marr <br />Strip Mine operated by Ken Coal Company. The need for a revised reclamation plan <br />resulted from the inability of the mine to complete the approved mining plan when the <br />existing coal contract with this mine was cancelled by the utility company purchasing the <br />coal. The original mining and reclamation plan as approved by OSM and the State of <br />Colorado reads as follows: <br />"For Pits 1 and 2 and the initial development of the steady-state in Pit 3, the <br />applicant proposes that overburden be hauled out into a previously excavated <br />pit. Overburden from Pits 1 and 2 is to be placed in the existing pit along with <br />overburden from an existing stockpile. Overburden from the initial pit <br />development in Pit 3 is to be placed in Pits 1 and 2. When a large enough pit <br />has been excavated in Pit 3 as proposed, asteady-state pit will have been <br />developed. As this stage of the operations is to be reached, overburden <br />removed from the working face, the northern end of the pit, is to be replaced <br />on backfill face, the southern end of the pit. In effect, overburden removal <br />and replacement are to occur simultaneously within the pit causing a migration <br />of this steady-state pit in a northerly direction. When the end of Pit 3 is to be <br />reached, overburden from an existing overburden stockpile is to be transported <br />by conveyor to the final pit in Pit 3. <br />Backfilling and Grading Procedures <br />The proposed Man Strip Mine consists of three separate pits, Pits 1 through 3. <br />Pits 1 and 2 would be excavated to 200 feet with the backfill being placed <br />directly into an existing pit located south of Pits 1 and 2. Also, material from <br />an existing overburden stockpile would be placed into the existing pit. Spoil <br />from the development of the steady-state pit in Pit 3 would be directly placed <br />in the excavated Pits 1 and 2. Subsequent to this, material excavated from the <br />advancing working face would be replaced directly onto the trailing backfill <br />face. When the limits of Pit 3 would be reached, the steady-state pit would be <br />backfilled with the remainder of the existing overburden stockpile. No <br />compaction effort is expected to be made other than that which is a normal <br />result of the operation of the backfilling machinery. The overburden would be <br />replaced in 2-foot lifts by scrapers and there would be continuous scraper <br />traffic over it, resulting in significant compaction. As the elevation of the <br />backfilled spoil approaches the planned postmining contour, dozers and <br />