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Evaluation <br />Walden Coal Company replaced topsoil on 74 acres at the mine site and <br />2.82 acres at the loadout to a depth of at least 1 foot in the fall of 1988 . <br />Another 31 acres was topsoiled and reclaimed at the mine site in 1984. <br />Topsoil replacement depth samples were acquired at the mine site by the <br />Division on July 14, 1989 using twenty-eight holes. Twenty-one topsoil <br />replacement depth samples were obtained by Walden Coal Company on August 7, <br />1990 and on October 15, 1990 at the mine site. Both the Division and the <br />operator sampled two holes total at the loadout on November 7, 1990. The <br />Division's data showed topsoil replacement depths ranging from 11" - 32" with <br />an average depth of 16.8". Walden Coal Company's data documented topsoil <br />replacement depths ranging from 10" - 24.5" with an average depth greater than <br />15". <br />Topsoil stabilization measures at the mine site include straw mulch applied at <br />2 tons per acre, and a terrace system. The topsoil at the load out was <br />stabilized with 2 tons mulch/acre. Walden Coal Company's vegetation sampling <br />at the mine site over the last two years has shown a total cover averaging <br />70%. Live vegetation cover in the area reseeded in 1984 has averaged 24.5%. <br />Sampling of the area reclaimed in 1988 during 1989 showed live cover of 16%. <br />This value increased in 1990 to 33%. Vegetation sampling has not been <br />performed at the reclaimed loadout. <br />Water monitoring at the site consists of two alluvial wells up and downstream <br />of the disturbance along Mann Draw. Impacts to the alluvium have not been <br />observed and were predicted to occur only as a consequence of surface water <br />runoff. Significant hydrologic impacts outside the permit area are not <br />anticipated. <br />Two monitoring wells remain to be reclaimed at the site. Possible additional <br />reclamation activities for which bond has been retained include: finish <br />grading to repair rills and gullys or to reestablish the contour terrace bench <br />system, and revegetation activities to achieve vegetative success standards. <br />Revegetation costs assume 100% vegetative failure and include the costs of <br />soil preparation, seeding, fertilization, and rtulching. The Division <br />estimates the cost of completing all of the reclamation activities at <br />596,500. The Division believes that the degree of difficulty to complete the <br />remaining reclamation activities to be low. <br />-2- <br />