2007-01-31_REVISION - M1986015 (2)

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DESCRIPTION AND EXHIBITS Amendment 3 (2007) Description and Exhibits Description ofAmendment: This amendment does not add any additional acreage to the existing permit, but does add a completely new phase to the operation. Phase 2 is located immediately west of Phase 1 and was identified in the first amendment. However, the first amendment showed both Phase 2e and Phase 2w. Phase 2e has been dropped from the plan for now. Thus, this new Phase 2 is the same area identified as Phase 2w in the first amendment. The addition of this phase slightly more than doubles the existing land that is covered by a mining and reclamation plan. Phase 1 has also been redesigned in this amendment. There the original slurry wall proposal has been dropped and the pit will eventually be completely backfilled with wash fines and overburden from both Phase 1 and Phase 2. Phase 2, though, will be sealed by what is referred to as a Groundwater Barrier Wall. This term is used because the wall will either be a slurry wall (the first choice) or a structural piling steel wall. At this time, the steel wall appears to be the most expensive of the two but the one that provides the best long term effectiveness. The steel wall is also resistant to flood damages which seem to be increasing as a result of primarily the increasing flows from Fountain Creek into the Arkansas River. Over the last few years these flows have dramatically increased, primarily as a result of all the development in Colorado Springs along tributaries to Fountain Creek. The sediment from these flows may also be raising the bed of the Arkansas River producing more dramatic overflows of the river bank. Although evidence for the Arkansas River becoming an aggradational stream in this area is weak, further east it is occurring and it is only a matter of time before that buildup of sediment moves upstream to Pueblo. However, the high cost of the steel wall places emphasis on the slurry wall as the most likely to be implemented. Phase 1, once filled, will become primarily a riparian forest habitat for wildlife. Phase 2 is expected to become a reservoir. The effects of sealing on adjacent land has been thoroughly examined and with this new plan there should be little impact on adjacent wells. This is preferable to the dewatering plan used in Phase 1 which has generated a deep cone of depression to the west of the pit. Although impacts on wells have been minimal as a result of Phase 1, impacts from Phase 2 would likely be severe if a dewatering plan was implemented. Layout of the Amendment: This amendment follows the exhibit layout required by the rules and regulations. Amendment 2 only applied to the small parcel added in that application. This amendment is to be considered as a complete re-write of the permit and therefore will replace all previous plans. The mining and reclamation plans utilize a new approach to drafting the plans. This approach separates the various requirements from the discussion of why that course of action is taken and the justification for that approach. This format is more like an instruction manual and provides the operator with a much easier plan to follow. Generally, all that is needed is to refer to the requirements list at the front of the mining or reclamation plan exhibits. If more information is needed, then that list provides the page in the full plan where more information on that requirement is available. All the same information is present that would be found in a straight narrative format, but this approach makes it much easier to implement the plan. Pueblo East Pit Amendment 3 (2007) Overview Page t of 1