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Study, Geo-Hydro Consultants, Mt. Gunnison No. 1 Mine," included within the <br /> permit document in Exhibit 14. This report, prepared in conformance with the current <br /> state-of-the-art, includes design recommendations for the surface facilities to be <br /> constructed within the landslide deposit delineated in the surface facility area of the <br /> West Elk Mine site. One of the design recommendations forwarded within the report <br /> is the installation of a dewatering system consisting of horizontally inclined dewatering <br /> wells installed throughout the affected area, specifically within the portal bench and <br /> access road. Specific engineering design plans for this system have been included <br /> within the permit document. In addition, intricate bin-wall retaining structures were <br /> subsequently included within the design documents in the permit section. <br /> The area of the surface facilities has been the focus of historic and recent landslide <br /> activity. The Division required MCC to demonstrate, through appropriate <br /> geotechnical analyses, that the proposed backfilled surfaces would satisfy the required <br /> static slope safety factor of 1.3. Merrick and Company prepared a "Report of <br /> Stability Analyses and Recommendations for Reclaimed Surface Facilities at the West <br /> Elk Coal Company, Mt. Gunnison No. 1 Mine." The report presents the results of <br /> the required stability analyses and recommendations for reclamation of the affected <br /> area. <br /> MCC proposes to return all surface disturbed areas to approximate original contour, <br /> with the exception of the waste disposal sites. <br /> XI. Revegetation <br /> Information regarding the vegetation in the West Elk Mine permit area is found in <br /> Section 2.04.10, 2.05.4, Exhibit 31, 32, 33, Map 42, 43, and 44 of the permit <br /> document. No threatened and/or endangered plant species were found anywhere <br /> within the permit area. <br /> Success of revegetation efforts was originally based on reference areas established in <br /> July 1980 and enlarged in 1981. Reference areas were established for mixed shrub and <br /> dry meadow communities and were shown on Map 44. <br /> MCC proposed replacing the two reference areas with the use of a historic reference <br /> area for evaluation of revegetation success. The vegetation in the historic reference <br /> area resembles the expected post mining vegetation community. Data is collected in a <br /> former agricultural and pasture area southwest of the facilities area as seen on Map 53. <br /> Use of the historic reference area was approved in PR-7 and is presented in Section <br /> 2.05, page 2.05-69 of the permit application. <br /> To establish the historic reference, three years of data are to be collected to represent a <br /> dry, normal and wet year. A historic analysis was developed using precipitation data <br /> from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) for the Paonia 1 SW station collected <br /> from 1905-1965. Data from the "pre-growing" season, October through May, were <br /> 53 <br />