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<br />onto the side of the hill. The area is about 2500 feet downgradient of
<br />pond HG-8, along the west side of County Road 53. A small excavation
<br />at the top of the pile, made during the October 9, 1996 bond release
<br />inspection, indicated a layer of topsoil overlying fill material.
<br />Topsoil stockpile C did not need to be regraded.
<br />Pond 3, the regraded ponds 1 and 2, and the corridor leading to pond
<br />1 are included in this partial Phase One bond release. Pond 3, the
<br />shop pond, was designated as a permanent impoundment, as was stated in
<br />a letter from the Division dated November 25, 1985. Data supplied by
<br />the operator, in the bond release submittal and in annual hydrology
<br />reports, show that the pond 3 discharge meets compliance limitations.
<br />Pond 1, the explosives storage area pond, and pond 2, the landfill
<br />area pond, were reclaimed in the fall of 1996, after appropriate
<br />demonstrations for removal were approved in Minor Revision No. 10. The
<br />demonstrations showed that the disturbed area runoff could meet
<br />sediment compliance limits without the use of sedimentation control
<br />structures. The corridor leading to pond 1 did not have to be
<br />regraded. There are several temporary collection and diversion ditches
<br />on site. The locations are shown on Map 1, entitled "Facilities Area
<br />Reclamation Map", of the bond release submittal. The ditches are
<br />functional and are well vegetated.
<br />The facilities area, including the explosives storage area, was
<br />regraded in the fall of 1987, except for the sanitary landfill, which
<br />was backfilled in late fall of 1982. The facilities area, the regraded
<br />ponds 1 and 2, the pond 1 corridor and the three former topsoil
<br />stockpile areas were regraded to approximate original contour (AOC).
<br />This determination was based on the field inspection of October 9,
<br />1996 and comparison of the permit application's approved postmining
<br />contour map, Exhibit D, "Final Reclamation Map", with the as-built
<br />topography, as shown on the bond release submittal Map 1, entitled
<br />"Facilities Area Reclamation Map." Map 2, "Facilities Area Post-Mining
<br />Cross-Section Map", supplied in the operator's bond release submittal,
<br />was also used in this determination of AOC. There were no variances
<br />from the AOC requirements. Field inspection verified that no highwalls
<br />remain and that the backfilled slopes are stable.
<br />Drainage reestablishment was determined, through field inspection and
<br />data analyses, to be successful. The bond release inspection of
<br />October 9, 1996 showed that the regraded drainage characteristics,
<br />including slope lengths and gradients as well as drainage density,
<br />blended in with the surrounding, undisturbed, drainage patterns.
<br />Further, no erosional instability or signs of .mass instability were
<br />observed at any of the areas proposed for partial Phase One bond
<br />release.
<br />Comparisons were made between the premining topography, as shown in
<br />Exhibit B, "Premining Map", the approved postmining topography, as
<br />shown on Exhibit D, entitled "Final Reclamation Map", and the as-built
<br />postmining topography, as shown on Map 1, entitled "Facilities Area
<br />Reclamation Map", of the bond release submittal. These comparisons
<br />complemented the findings in the field of successful drainage
<br />reestablishment.
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