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ATTACHMENT 3 • <br />' Excerpt: United Compa of Mesa County, Inc. <br />FORD GRAV PIT <br />M-96-091 <br />ADEQUACY REVIEW RESPONSE <br />4. The ranch road that now exists on the property, and runs from the north-east corner to the <br />south-west comer will not be affected by any mining operations, except that the section of <br />the road that is within the mining azea will be obliterated during excavation of the gravel. The <br />entirety of the road is within the affected area. It is conceivable that the road may be used to <br />access any silt traps that may be required to be constructed along the ephemeral drainage that <br />represents the eastern boundary of the affected area. For this purpose, the operator will <br />maintain the road to a minimal degree. Otherwise, there is no other use for this road by the <br />operator. <br />5. Regarding the west boundary of the subject property, that boundary is shazed with two <br />other property owners. The northern most 155 feet of the property line is shared with Louis <br />Rhodes, the remaining 1317 feet is shares with United Companies, the applicant . The small <br />finger ridge, to which has been referred in the adequacy letter, is within the 1317 feet that <br />belongs to United. The mining plan is such that mining will occur up to the property line in <br />the area of the finger ridge. The top of the 3:1 slope will be at the property line where the <br />finger ridge is adjacent to the Ford Pit. <br />• Exhibit D -Mining Plan <br />1. As you have indicated, the text of the mining plan in the original application stated that <br />size of the parcel of land on which the Ford Gravel Pit is situated consists of 40 acres. This <br />is incorrect. The actual acreage of the parcel is 52.12 acres. This correction has been made <br />on the Mining Plan Map. <br />2. It is correct that the Ford Pit will be mined as a continuation of the same gravel deposit <br />,,~ as the Hall Pit. The two pit floors will be continuous on the same grade. Mining will be <br />conducted down to the depth of the underlaying shale, except that because of the use of a <br />front end loader with teeth on the cutting edge of the bucket, approximately 4 inches to 8 <br />inches of gravel will be left. This is because the teeth on the loader bucket preclude the <br />bucket from cutting clean to the bottom of the gravel deposit. Incidental to the effort to <br />retrieve as much gravel as possible off the floor, the loader teeth and teeth shanks actually rip <br />into the shale deposit to a shallow depth. This serves to loosen the shale deposit to a degree. <br />Exposure to weather and the elements also degrades the upper portion of the shale, probably <br />to a depth of 12 inches to 18 inches maximum. This makes the shale strata somewhat <br />pervious. However, it is the nature of the shale to be generally impervious, particularly <br />considering the depth of the shale layer in that area is several hundred feet. This fact <br />accentuates the importance of placing adequate sub-soil above the shale prior to placing <br />topsoil. Considering the arid conditions that exist at the site, it is believed that the depth of <br />the sub-soil and topsoil that is planned for reclamation will be entirely adequate to establish <br />vegetation and to prevent erosion. <br />United has not experience any instability or seepage problems around the perimeter of the <br />Hall Pit. It is presumed that similar conditions will prevail around the perimeter of the Ford <br />-3- <br />