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~- <br /> <br />Letter to Joseph de Raismes 4 Mav 3. 1995 <br />25, 1995 meeting. A notice of the Board's consideration for <br />possible issuance of Declaratory Order will be sent to all <br />interested parties. Also, the April 21, 1995 letter }'rpm Mr. Frost <br />states that a hearing on whether the Varra Companies soubmittal is a <br />technical revision or an amendment must be held before the Division <br />can approve or deny the submittal. Please note that Rule 1.9.1 of <br />the Mineral Rules and Regulations requires the Division to act on a <br />technical revision within 30 days. This makes the decision date for <br />the Varra Companies submittal May 5, 1995 which is several weeks <br />prior to the scheduled hearing. Unless the operator (Varra <br />Companies) requests an extension to the decision date, the Division <br />is obliged, under the Mineral Rules, to make a decision on May 5, <br />1995. <br />5. In item number 3 of your list of concerns, the issue of topsoil <br />replacement is raised, with your primary concern being the amount of <br />topsoil to be replaced. The existing Jenkins Pit permit anticipated <br />screening of surface soil in order to recover the gravel contained, <br />and to create a less rocky plant growth medium for. replacement <br />during reclamation. When the Division inspected the Jenkins Site on <br />February 21, 1995, it was observed that a gravelly :>oil had been <br />salvaged and stockpiled at the south perimeter of the site, and it <br />did not appear that this soil had been screened. Two other topsoil <br />stockpiles were inspected, and their volume estimated, during the <br />Division's April 28, 1995 inspection. The topsoil in these piles is <br />also very rocky. As part of the 1986 Jenkins Site permit amendment, <br />the Division and Board approved the concept of screening of the <br />topsoil and mixing it with plant fines to create a plant growth <br />medium for replacement. Screening and creation of plant fines are <br />mining related operations, and the Division and Board do not dictate <br />to operators the specifics of their mine plans. As such, it is <br />frequently the case that a site must be reclaimed at some interim <br />point, prior to exhaustion of the resource or full implementation of <br />the anticipated mine plan. When this happens, the site is reclaimed <br />using the most prudent and appropriate mechanisms. A~t the Jenkins <br />Site, this would include grading to create a final topography <br />appropriate to the final land use, and spreading of 1~)0 percent of <br />the available topsoil. The Division will not at this time require <br />the operator to set up a screening plant to manufacture a plant <br />growth medium different than that available from the ;salvaged soil <br />stockpiles, nor can the Division require an operator, a.t a site such <br />as the Jenkins Pit, to haul in a soil from off-site unless there is <br />reason to believe that the on-site topsoil resource had been <br />squandered. The permit modification submitted by Varra Companies on <br />April 5, 1995 commits the operator to spreading oi' all of the <br />topsoil contained in the stockpiles on the site. <br />6. In item number 4 of your list of concerns you have stated the <br />opinion that large thicknesses of good quality soil ware available <br />for salvage in the area south of Coal Creek. You further state the <br />