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Vegetation removal is limited to lazge woody plants which would interfere with topsoil removal. <br />Trees and shrubs are brushed and backfilled in previously mined pits or placed as brush pile <br />habitat on final graded spoil slopes. Lower sta:_ds of less woody vegetation are incorporated into <br />topsoil, increasing organic matter in the soils. <br />Topsoil salvage depths range from zero (in steep slope and rock outcrop areas) to 60 inches. <br />Salvaged topsoil is removed by scraper and bulldozer equipment and stockpiled. When <br />conditions permit, topsoil is salvaged and immediately redistributed on graded spoils. <br />Overburden is fragmented with explosives. Bulldozers prepare benches to allow for drilling with <br />a rotary drill. Drill holes are loaded with ANFO (ammonium nitrate -fuel oil) or other approved <br />blasting agents. Fragmented overburden is removed by dragline and spoiled into the previous <br />pit. <br />Coal is fragmented (primarily through the use of explosives) and removed from the pit. <br />Hydraulic shovels load haul trucks which transport raw coal from the pit directly to the Hayden <br />Station generation plant. Direct haul to the plant precludes coal preparation at the mine site. <br />Cast over spoils are graded to approximate original contour, and salvaged topsoil is redistributed. <br />Topsoil replacement depth is approximately one foot. Areas of topsoil redistribution aze drill <br />seeded the first fall planting season following completion of topsoil spreading. <br />Reclamation of pit areas is concurrent with mining. At the end of mining, all facilities and <br />structures with the exception of the Wadge, PeCoCo, and Northwest Impoundments which are <br />approved as permanent impoundments, will be removed, and final pit highwalls reduced. All <br />disturbed areas will be regraded, topsoil will be replaced, and vegetation reestablished. <br />Mine-related facilities include the office, bath house, warehouse and repair building, <br />maintenance building, welding shop, fuel storage, truck wash bay, explosives storage containers, <br />and the warehouse yard. Mine-related structures include sedimentation ponds, diversion ditches, <br />and culverts. <br />Water usage at the site is limited to dust suppression, maintenance, and domestic use. Water <br />used in maintenance and dust suppression activities is withdrawn from sedimentation ponds on <br />site. Water used for domestic purposes is supplied by an on-site well. Seneca Coal Company <br />has secured water rights for all water usage and for replacement in the event that off-site water <br />supplies aze damaged or depleted. <br />Non-coal waste is disposed of in the final pit of the Wadge mining area. Materials placed in the <br />pit are not considered hazazdous or toxic, and will not pose a threat to groundwater resources. <br />The pit will be backfilled and completely reclaimed at the end of mining activities. <br />