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<br />2. The volume of reasonably available <br />spoil must be insufficient to completely <br />eliminate the highwall. <br />3. "The highwall shall be eliminated <br />to the maximum extent technically <br />practical..:'. <br />4. "All spoil generated by the <br />remining operation and any other <br />reasonably available spoil shall be used to <br />backfill the area". <br />5. "Reasonably available spoil in the <br />in the immediate vicinity of the remining <br />operation shall be included in the permit <br />area". <br />6. "The backfill shall be graded to a <br />slope which is compatible with the <br />postmining land use and which provides <br />adequate drainage and longterm stability". <br />The Apex Mine has committed to using all <br />available spoil to backfill the ltigltwall. A <br />rougJ: estimate based on test pits dug into <br />the facilities pad showed that a majority of <br />the material is coal waste that will be <br />disposed of at an adjacent mine. <br />Sunland l:as committed to baclfillirrg the <br />portal bench, w{tere the highwall is focated, <br />to a 2:1 slope (2 horizontal to 1 vertical). <br />This is the steepest slope on which a dozer <br />can operate, given the location of the bench. <br />The 6enclt is located on a steep slope that <br />Itas an abrupt drop off down to t{te county <br />road. A 5 to 8 feet buffer will be left <br />between the bac~ll slope and the drop off <br />for safety. <br />Sunland has committed to utilizing all <br />available spoil material. <br />T/te permit area encompasses all prelaw <br />areas lira[ contain spoil. <br />T/te postmining land use is grazing. A <br />backfill slope of 2:1 is abnost too steep for <br />cattle; a steeper slope would be impractical <br />for cattle to use and would suffer from <br />erosion due to trampling. Tile Division, as a <br />rule of Jlturrtb, considers a slope of 2:1 dte <br />maximum slope that would support <br />vegetation that would contribute to its long <br />term erosional stability. Any backfilling <br />beyond that described above would result in <br />a steeper slope. Backfilling to a gentler slope <br />is impractical due to the proximity of the <br />county road. <br />2 <br />