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<br />rock, stoniness, and slopes (SCS 1982). Therefore, the soils throughout the entire <br />• solution mining well field probably have no more than moderate reclamation <br />potential. Soil disturbing activities are anticipated to occur on considerably less than <br />the average 172 acres in each of the six 5-year mining panels designated for <br />development during the first 30 years of mining (see Section 2.1.1.2 and Figure 2-1). <br />Isolated occurrences of Torriorthents-Rockoutcrop complex soils may occur on <br />south-facing slopes in the upper reaches of dry, ephemeral drainages. Solution <br />mining activities may affect these soils where the edges of mining panels overlap <br />the upper extent of drainages. The Torriorthents-Rockoutcrop complex has poor <br />reclamation potential due to shallow soil depth, inherent low fertility, and slope <br />(BLM 1982). Because disturbance of Torriorthents-Rockoutcrop complex soils would <br />be very limited in areal extent, impacts to this soil type would not be considered <br />significant. <br />The Piceance Site processing facilities and the evaporation pond would be situated <br />on a level plateau, primarily on Yamac foams. Yamac foams are deep, well-drained <br />soils having moderate permeability, high available water-holding capacity, and <br />slight erosion hazard (SCS 1982). They have fair to good potential for development <br />and as source material for road fill and topsoil and moderate susceptibility to frost <br />action (SCS 1982). The fenced-in processing plant area encompasses only 6.5 acres, <br />and the evaporation pond will occupy only approximately 14 acres. Reclamation <br />• potential for soils disturbed by these long-term activities is considered to be good. <br />Impacts from previous test and exploration activities at the Piceance Site occurred <br />primarily to the Torriorthents-Rockoutcrop complex and were discussed in the <br />exploration plan (Steigers 1996) and the experimental test mine plan (American <br />Soda 1997d). <br />The pipeline corridor would have a total length of approximately 44 miles. <br />Although the proposed pipeline corridor width is 75 feet, and therefore, the corridor <br />will occupy a total of perhaps 400 acres, a much smaller area will actually be <br />disturbed by pipeline installation or otherwise by creation of construction access <br />routes and laydown areas. The two underground pipes would be buried <br />approximately 3 feet deep. Soils in the area are conspicuously shallow and, of this <br />depth, only a few inches would be considered to be topsoils. Any topsoils that can be <br />salvaged during excavation of the pipeline trenches would be used in pipeline <br />corridor reclamation to the extent possible. Impacts to soils from pipeline <br />construction are considered to be minor because these would not involve significant <br />acreages of soil disturbance, and only limited disturbance of vegetative groundcover <br />would occur as a result of pipeline construction. <br />Soils at the preferred Parachute Site have been significantly impacted by <br />development of the existing Unocal facilities. Additional soils impacts may occur <br />• during conversion of the site for use by the Yankee Gulch Project, but these impacts <br />are considered to be relatively minor. Most of the construction that would occur at <br />American Soda. L.L.P. 8_6 <br />Commercial Mine Plan <br />August 18, 1998 <br />