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overburden is excavated using dozers and a shovel and trucks and then placed or pushed into an <br />adjacent or nearby mined-out pit panels, with the exception of the initial cut, which was placed <br />adjacent to the pit onto land designated as a temporary overburden stockpile (see Map 2.05.3-1). <br />During overburden removal operations, some selective handling of materials will be performed based <br />on chemical and physical core data contained in Section 2.04.6, Geology Description, and discussions <br />presented in Section 2.05.4(2)(d), Topsoil (Redistribution) of the permit application. <br />Following recovery of the lower Dakota coal seam, the pit will be backfilled to approximate original <br />contour. Overburden testing is being done to ensure that acid or toxic forming overburden is not <br />placed within four feet of the surface and areas retreated as necessary. Topsoil will then be replaced <br />in approximate thicknesses of I.0 feet on dryland pastures and ].5 feet on irrigated pastures, <br />dependent upon the actual amount of topsoil recovered. The areas will then be seeded and irrigated <br />for pasture establishment. <br />Operations on Prime Farmland <br />Originally, when Peabody Coal operated [he Nucla Mine, they had identified approximately 15 acres <br />in the southeast portion of the New Horizon Mine 2 permit area as prime farmland. After an <br />extensive review by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Western Fuels-Colorado, <br />and the Division, a determination was made that the area classified as prime farmland was in error. <br />The area has now been reclassified as irrigated cropland, however, the land itself was reclaimed to <br />prime farmland standards as far as topsoil handling and depths are concerned. <br />Water Rights and Usage <br />S The water rights, usage and augmentation plan is presented in Section 2.05.6(3) of the permit <br />application. There are 11 surface water rights which have the potential of being impacted by Western <br />Fuels operations at New Horizon Mine 2. These are upgradient of Sediment Pond 007 at the site. <br />There are 29 water wells adjacent to the mine sites. Of these, just two, W-009 and D-041 on Figure <br />2 of Tab 16, could be impacted by future mining activities at the New Horizon Mine 2 site. These <br />Pn two wells are 150 feet or less deep and derive [heir water from near surface aquifers. A[ the end of <br />~ ~ five years of operation, Westem Fuels estimated that drawdown might be one foot within a 0.7 mile <br />radius of the center of the New Horizon Mine 2 pit. Westem Fuels proposes, with owner consent, <br />to monitor these wells to detect any changes in their hydrologic conditions. <br />Westem Fuels-Colorado will use the following alternative water sources to mitigate any ground or <br />surface water right impacts. Western Fuels has available l 14.5 acre-feet of surface water, which is <br />a consumptive use credit associated with Western Fuels' ownership of 27 shares of the Colorado <br />Cooperative Company (CCC). Westem Fuels has an absolute 4 acre-foot storage right for [he 001 <br />reservoir at the New Horizon Mine 1 area and is projected to have 18 acre-feet of pit pumpage during <br />the non-irrigation season available to them for use. Westem Fuels also has a I.5 acre-foot ground <br />water right associated with the mined-out shop well. <br />10 <br />