1992-12-28_REVISION - M1977348 (2)

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• Fort Collins Soil Conservation District 925 John Deere Road Fort Collins, CO 80529 v ~ ~ ~ h S v ~ s o~ J `~ u u .~ h u ~ I O ~ ~ 1. u ~ ~ rn 3 ~ l ..T ~ u 3~ ~ ~T U 3 ~ O ~ ~ h ~ ~ ~ s ~ r ~ C+., ~ th 0 ~ Z R H L m~ 3 h ~ ~. ~ ~ I D ~ V~ r ~ ~ a ~' r ' ~ = N h RE ~ iii iiiiiiiiiiiuiii R~C~IV~T`~ DI;C 2 81992 MINERALS & G O LI t$ y Concerns About Holnam Boettcher Quarry Reclamation Dear Sirs, In your letter to Carl Mount, Division of Minerals & Geology, November 30, 1992, you expressed several concerns over the reclamation of the Boettcher limestone quarry. Holnam is already acting upon several of those concerns, and I would like to address each of them in turn. Concurrent reclamation is already being done with ongoinc mining activities as far as is possible. There is considerable misunderstanding about what areas are subject to reclamation. The south three miles of the A- band cut is pre-Law, and as such, is exempt from reclamation under the Mining Permit. However, Holnam is engaged in reclaiming this area as possible. The Silica Sludge landfill in Area Al is an example. When this is completed and covered and seeded, it will comprise reclamation for the south 2000 feet of the cut. The old CKD dust dump has been covered and is under experimental treatment with N-Viro Soil and will be seeded in the spring. The rest of the cut south of the Flood Ditch is being filled with CKD and upon completion of that fill, will be covered, seeded and reclaimed. In 6 to 10 years, when the CKD will be placed in the E-band quarry, reclamation will follow the mining as closely as the CKD fill progresses. It makes little sense to reclaim areas which will be mined to greater depth at a later date, or which will be covered with overburden piles at a later date. Noxious weed control is already practiced on the quarry spoil piles. Field bindweed, while not really desireable vegetation, is not legally classified as a noxious weed in Larimer County. Flatter spoil piles definitely would have a more rapid revegetation. However, the formations in this quarry dip at about 16.5 degrees. In a spoil pile on the flat, at the natural gradient, the toe of the pile is about 1.3 times the height of the pile from the peak. If this pile is put on a slope, this distance increases to about 2.25 times the pile height. When a gradient of 2:1 is imposed, these distances increase to 2 times, and 5.6 times the height of the pile, respectively. If this w_re practiced in the Boettcher quarry, which is quite narrow, both because of the dipping outcrop, and the restraints imposed by the irrigation ditches and property lines, the practice would result in considerable unrecoverable limestone. The natural slope on spoil piles is not