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<br />SNYDER QUARRI' <br /> <br />Following are responses to the items on page two of the inspection <br />report dated November 21, 1984. <br />OBSERVATIONS OF IMPORTANCE: <br />ITEM 1.) THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THIS INSPECTION WAS TO FIELD INVESTIGATE <br />THE PROPOSED EXPANSION AS APPLIED FOR IN A RECENT Ah1ENDMENT. MR. MARK <br />HEIFNER, CONSULTANT FOR CASTLE CONCRETE COMPANY, WAS PRESENT. <br />RESPONSE: No response needed. <br />ITEM 2.) THE VISUAL BERM EXHIBITED GOOD REVEGETATION SUCCESS IN THE <br />EXTREMELY CALCAREOUS SOIL AND MIXED WASTE ROCK. GULLYING HAD OCCURRED <br />FROM RECENT HEAVY RAINFALL. RIPRAP HAD BEEN PLACED TO MINIMIZE FURTHER <br />EROSION. THE OPERATOR STATED ADDITIONAL RIPRAP WILL BE PLACED WHERE <br />EROSION HAS OCCURRED. IT WAS DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE WHETHER EROSION HAD <br />OCCURRED AS A RESULT OF RUNOFF FROM THE OPERATING AREA ABOVE THE BERM OR <br />JUST FROM THE BERM AREA. <br />RESPONSE: The erosional damages that have occurred to the berm are <br />due solely to rainfall on the berm itself. Although a road does exist <br />along the top of the berm, a safety berm at least two feet high is always <br />maintained along the edge of the road. This not only keeps trucks and <br />loaders from driving off the road and rolling down the berm terraces, but <br />it keeps any water from draining from the road on to the berm. It is not <br />possible for water from the rest of the mine to flow over the berm. From <br />the top of the berm it is downhill in all directions. A simple <br />topographic examination shows that the water which caused the erosion of <br />the small sections of the terraces came from the berm itself. We will be <br />the first to agree that this seems unlikely, but on the other hand, we <br />know all too well just how severe thunderstorms can be on the foothill <br />areas near Colorado Springs, and a storm which drops 2 to 3 inches of <br />water in 20 to 30 minutes is not all that rare. <br />ITEM 3.) THE WASTE PILE ON SITE WAS APPROXIMATELY 50,000 CUBIC YARDS. <br />WASTE FROM THE SITE IS CRUSHER FINES, SOME OF WHICH IS SOLD. A SMALL <br />PORTION OF THE WASTE ROCK PILE HAD BEEN DUMPED ONTO A VEGETATED AREA. <br />THE OPERATOR STATED THAT THIS AREA HAD BEEN SCRAPED AND HAD REVEGETATED <br />WITH INVADED SPECIES. <br />RESPONSE: The "vegetated" area you are referring to was denuded in <br />the mid to late 1960's. The vegetation that is growing there is <br />primarily invaded Indian Ricegrass, Blue Grama, Western Whea[grass, and <br />small Mountain Mahogany shrubs. It is the normal invasion pattern for <br />limestone disturbances in this area. The cover of this vegetation is on <br />the order of 15 to 20 percent. The area is totally within the boundaries <br />of the permit. This vegetation has not been planted and is not part of <br />the reclamation plan. Aerial photographs of this area prior to <br />permitting clearly show that the entire area to be mined had been <br />stripped of vegetation prior to the current mining being started. This <br />1 <br />