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-36- <br />storage of coal at the facility to 2,000 tons. Salt Creek Mining Company must <br />adhere to this limit, except when specific approval is given by the Mesa County <br />Commissioners, allowing greater storage on an interim basis. The site was <br />previously used as a storage and loading site for sugar beets. <br />The applicant is in compliance with the requirements of this section. <br />Roads - Rules 2.05.3(3) and 4.03 <br />Road Construction <br />Information dealing with road design and construction for the Munger Canyon Mine <br />is located in Section 2.2.2 of Volume I and Appendix 0 of Volume V of the <br />application. This material has been reviewed by the Division for compliance <br />with the Rules and Regulations. <br />The proposed haul road for the Munger Canyon mine is approximately 2 miles in <br />length. This road follows the alignment of an existing pioneer road excavated <br />in 1977. This road, as the applicant observes, can be divided into two distinct <br />design segments. The lower segment connects State Highway No. 139 (Sta. 0+00') <br />and the confluence of the Plunger Creek Canyon with the canyon of the unnamed <br />tributary to Munger Creek on which the portals are located (Sta. 67+00'). This <br />segment occupies the relatively broad canyon floor at a fairly low gradient <br />(2.60). The majority of this segment consists of a Zow constructed road berm. <br />The upper segment of the haul road connects the confluence of the two stream <br />valleys (Sta. 67+00') with the mine portal bench (Sta. 140+30'). This roughly <br />3700 foot long segment climbs at a steeper gradient (7.5~) along the southern <br />valley wall of the valley of the unnamed tributary to Munger Creek. The <br />southern wall of this canyon is steep, with cross-sections in excess of 30°, <br />obviously qualifying as a "steep slope mining area". In order to straighten the <br />alignment of the existing pioneer road to accommodate larger coal hauling <br />vehicles, the applicant proposes to enlarge existing road cuts and construct <br />road berms across several drainage swales. <br />In response to comments made by the Division in its Preliminary Adequacy Review, <br />Salt Creek P9ining Company has submitted a geotechnical analysis and amended <br />design recommendations for the proposed haul road. This report, prepared by <br />Geo-Hydro Consultants, Inc. contains geotechnical conclusions regarding the <br />stability of the proposed haul road corridor and recommendations for the construction <br />of necessary road cuts and road fill embankments. The consultant's methodology <br />consists basically of geological mapping of the affected area and observation of <br />the performance of cuts adjoining the existing pioneer road, which was constructed <br />roughly 4 years prior to this investigation. <br />The geotechnical investigation determined that four basic soil or rock types are <br />encountered along the road's alignment. While no major or deep-seated landslides <br />have occurred along the pioneer road, some shallow sloughing has occurred. <br />By observing the cut slope gradients in areas of sloughing and correlating these <br />observations with the four characteristic material types encountered, the <br />applicant's consultant has developed recommendations regarding the maximum stable <br />cut slope gradients for each characteristic material type (see Table 2.2-2 of the <br />application). The consultant's methodology is sound in this analysis. <br />