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<br />Requested changes in the operations plan include the initiation of activities <br />in the Colt pit, which was active prior to the issuance of Trapper's mine <br />permit C-81-010, and approval to begin development of a new pit, the Browning <br />Pit. Activities approved in these two pits are limited to development work <br />including topsoil stripping and overburden blasting, but not actual r_oal <br />removal. Other activities approved in this revision include additional road <br />construction, sediment and drainage control, permit boundary changes, pit <br />dewatering, and the addition of a second ash disposa] area in the existing <br />Ashmore pit. <br />The total area to be disturbed under this revision will be increased by 96 <br />acres from the currently approved area of 2,759 acres to 2,855 acres during <br />this permit term. No change will be made in the maximum production rate or <br />mining methods. <br />The proposed operation is in compliance with the requirements of this section. <br />XYI. Explosives (Rules 2.05.6(a) and 4.08) <br />The development of the Colt and Browning pits will require the blasting of <br />overburden. Most of the area to be blasted in 1987 under the terms of Permit <br />Revision No. 1 will occur within a horizontal distance of 500 feet from the <br />underground workings of Empire energy Corporation's Eagle No. 5 mine, Map PR <br />1-1 shows the area to be blasted and Empire's underground workings that lie <br />within the 500 foot horizontal distance of the blasting area. The underground <br />workings shown are mostly abandoned room and pillar areas for which an <br />estimated 851; extraction was accomplished: No currently active headings fall <br />within 500 horizontal feet of the planned blasting area. <br />Trapper is requesting a variance from the 500 horizontal feet limit for <br />surface coal mining over an active or abandoned underground mine. The safety <br />of the underground workings will not be compromised as more than 800 vertical <br />feet separate the bottom of the lowest mineable seam of Colt Pit from the <br />highest mineable seam of Empire's underground workings. To further insure <br />safety of Empire's underground workers, blasting within 500 feet of the <br />underground workings will be done during Empire's shift changes when none of <br />their workers are in the area. To insure safety of Empire's activities, <br />Trapper mine will use a controlled blasting schedule which will be coordinated <br />with Empire Energy Corporation. <br />The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has been notified by Trapper <br />Mining, Inc. of this plan. Additionally, personnel from MLRD and MSHA met on <br />April 6, 1987 to discuss the request for a variance to blast within 500 <br />horizontal feet of underground mining activities. It was decided at that <br />meeting that the request was reasonable, and that adequate precautions would <br />be taken. Therefore, MLRD approves this request and grants the variance. <br />The operation is in compliance with the requirements of this section. <br />