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<br /> Pikeview Quarry Environmental Assessment Page 3 <br />' nd Need <br />1 <br />4 P <br /> . <br />urpose a <br /> The Pikeview Quarry is located within the city of Colorado Springs limits, and in El <br /> Paso County. Limestone3 aggregate produced in the Pikeview Quarry has been used for <br /> construction materials such as concrete, asphalt, and rock used for landscaping, drainage <br /> and erosion control in the Colorado Springs region. <br /> The quarry is visible to people driving along I-25 in addition to the residents of <br />' Colorado Springs and recent urban development is increasingly close to the quarry. <br /> Although Colorado law requires reclamation of quarries, it does not specifically <br /> address aesthetic aspects of mining or reclamation. The Pikeview Quarry has astate- <br /> approved reclamation plan, consistent with the requirements of state law. However, the <br /> existing reclamation plan will only partially alleviate the aesthetic impact of the Pikeview <br /> Quarry. Under the proposed action, enhanced reclamation techniques would be employed to <br />' reduce visual impacts and to partially restore natural vegetative cover. <br /> The proposed layback plan would provide less steep and more stable slopes which <br /> would hold topsoil and facilitate revegetation. Current limestone slopes face several <br /> stability uncertainties: first, as limestone is composed of multiple individual limestone beds <br /> separated by bedding plane weaknesses, and as quarry operations have not consistently <br /> excavated [he limestone back to a particular bedding plane in the limestone, a single <br /> bedding plane cannot be selected for the reclamation of the steep slope; second, previous <br /> mining lefr a limestone arch overhanging exposed green sandstone which is very unstable. <br />' In order to remove this limestone azch, the exposed green sandstone would have to be laid <br /> back; third, the upper 200 feet of the limestone is steeper than the average 60 degrees dip of <br /> east facing joint set in the Pikes Peak granite. Therefore there is a possibility for long-term <br />' limestone toppling failure from the quarry high wall; finally, the individual limestone beds <br /> exposed in the high wall face will be subject to potential buckling and sliding failure. These <br /> instabilities are not compatible with along-term reclamation plan at the Pikeview Quarry, <br />' and thus the granite slopes resulting from the layback operation would be preferable. <br /> During the layback operation, material on the top of the steep area (mainly <br /> decomposed granite), on National Forest System lands, would be used for backfill in the <br /> Pikeview Quarry. The decomposed granite (upper part), limestone, and sandstone (lower <br /> part) found in private land could be sold under the current mining permit. The decomposed <br /> granite could be used for road base and the sandstone could be used as fill material. <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br />1.5 Forest Management Policies <br />The proposed layback plan would affect up to 26 acres of the Pike National Forest. <br />According to the Amended Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan), the affected <br />3 Pikeview Quarry also produces dolomite. It is very similar and has the same use as limestone. <br />Hydrosphere Resource Consultants. 1002 Walnut S[reet Suite 200, Boulder, CO 80302 <br /> <br />