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-10- <br />The plan calls for two general mining areas. une area is north of the <br />50U foot buffer zone for the Maitland Arroyo and its unnamed tributary <br />and the other area is south of the buffer zone. Unly four coal seams <br />will be mined in the south area althouyh a total of five seams exist. <br />All five seams will be mined to some extent in the north section. <br />The coal will be removed using an area strip mining method allowing <br />multiple seam removal. The coal seams will be mined on separate benches <br />such that more than one seam can be mined at a time. <br />Mining will commence in the area south of the Maitland Arroyo. Mining <br />will continue in this area for approximately one year. Mining during the <br />second year and first quarter of the third year will occur in the area <br />north of the Maitland Arroyo. The mining pits will be approximately 80 <br />feet wide and will advance to the south and the west. Unconsolidated <br />overburden will be removed by scrapers and trucks and shovels. <br />Consolidated overburden will be blasted then removed by a dragline. <br />Overburden from the initial cut will be stockpiled and used to fill the <br />final pit. Uther overburden will be backfilled into preceeding cuts. <br />Because of the olastiny and breaking process used during overburden <br />removal the volume of material to be replaced will exceed the volume of <br />material in its original state. This will result in a slight rise in <br />elevation over the original elevation in the area of the pit. <br />In advance of the operation, vegetation will be cleared and topsoil and <br />subsoil will be separately salvaged. Soil is to be stockpiled from the <br />initial cut only. Succeeding cuts will be removed in advance of the <br />highwall and immediately spread on areas which are already backfilled and <br />graded. Soil stockpiles are to be seeded for protection and <br />stabilization. <br />Uverburden above the coal exhibits a high sodium absorption ratio (SAR). <br />If this material is placed within the plant root zone it may <br />detrimentally affect soil structure and inhibit water absorption by <br />plants thus inhibiting revegetation success. In order to prevent this <br />the high SAR material will be covered with four feet of suitable soil <br />material in the backfilled areas. Sufficient amounts of topsoil and <br />subsoil are present on-site to allow salvaging and replacement of four <br />feet of soil material where necessary. <br />Hreas which have been retopsoiled will be seeded and mulched. Vegetation <br />characteristics will be monitored until the post-mining conditions are <br />approximately equal to adjacent areas of comparable vegetation. <br />The destruction of some weedy vegetation species and their replacement <br />with useful, native species should result in improved conditions for <br />grazing in the reclaimed areas. <br />The applicant's plans for a sediment control system include the use of <br />diversion ditches to route undisturbed drainage around the site, and <br />collection ditches to route disturbed drainage to incised sediment ponds <br />with manual dewatering devices. <br />