Laserfiche WebLink
II. CRITERIA AND SCHEDULE FOR BOND RELEASE <br />Rule 3.03.1(4) states, "No bond shall be fully released until all the reclamation <br />requirements of the Rules and the Act are fully met...". The same rule goes on to state. <br />"No acreage shall be released from the permit area until all surface coal mining and <br />reclamation operations on that acreage have been completed in accordance with the <br />approved reclamation plan." <br />The approved Edna Mine reclamation plan has designated the Upper Shop Facilities <br />Area as a commercial land use. The facilities are being retained to support a <br />livestock/ranching operation. Specific facilities considered in this request are the <br />shop/maintenance building, the truck barn, the bathhouse, the coal stockpile/equipment <br />azea, the storage/fuel tank area and the supply yazd. Rules 3.02.3(2) (c), 4.15.10(3) and <br />4.16.3 apply to the Upper Shop Facilities Area. <br />III. OBSERVATION AND FINDINGS <br />P&M has applied for Phase III bond release on 13.5 acres in the Upper Shop Facilities <br />Area. The approved post-mining topography map is found on Exhibit 3.6-7 of the permit <br />application. As stated above this area has been approved as a commercial facility to <br />support alivestock/ranching operation. <br />P&M owns approximately 8,000 acres of land within and adjacent to the permit area on <br />the north, west and east sides which consist primarily of livestock grazing land with <br />approximately 1,000 acres of hay production on the west side of Trout Creek. These <br />facilities will support the operations on the entire ranching property. To date, the <br />facilities have been used for storage and maintenance of equipment and materials for the <br />ranching operation. The equipment and materials included ranch vehicles, tractors with <br />agricultural implements and snow removal attachments, hay balers, backhoes and cattle <br />feeders. Ranch maintenance activities have included irrigation and road ditch <br />maintenance, road maintenance, fence construction and fence maintenance. Materials for <br />these activities aze kept in the shop facilities azea. <br />An inspection of the Upper Shop Facilities Area was conducted on July 21, 1999. As <br />documented in the inspection report, P&M was waiting for a certified contractor to <br />remove some remaining utility equipment and to complete reclamation of the truck wash <br />pond. On October 21, 1999, afollow-up inspection was conducted that confirmed all <br />final reclamation activities were completed. Erosion control on the facilities area is <br />sufficient to prevent off-site sedimentation. <br />The support facility area was reclaimed to an alternate land use in 1996. P&M removed <br />those structures that were not to be retained. The facilities to remain include the <br />Edna Mine 3 Bond Release No. 6 <br />C-80-001 December 9, 1999 <br />