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Section 780.18 (bl Continued. <br />Accordingly, this production overburden was direct hauled within Pit 1 and backfilled <br />in the southern and central portions of that Pit. <br />PERIOD TWO: At the end of mining in Pit 1, Kerr Coal planned to pursue one of two <br />options. Option One was the development of further reserves by opening Pit 2. <br />Option Two was the suspension of coal mining activity while near-and long-term <br />market opportunities were assessed. <br />If Option One had been pursued, a substantial increase in the existing equipment fleet <br />would have occurred, allowing completion of the reclamation plan described in the <br />August 9, 1989 Permit Revision on file with DMG, including the placement of <br />development overburden from Pit 2 in the northern end of Pit 1. <br />Given closure of the branch railroad line and its impact on coal production economics <br />and marketability, Kerr pursued a variation of Option Two, with existing equipment <br />being committed to reclamation activities. Overburden placement in the 720 Pit was <br />• completed, backfilled areas were regraded to final slopes of no greater than 3H:1 V, <br />and the final drainage configuration was established. The northern portion of Pit 1 <br />was subsequently reclaimed by reestablishing effective drainage, grading highwalls <br />down to maximum 3H:1 V slopes, ripping the graded surfaces, replacing topsoil and <br />revegetating the reclaimed areas. <br />During Period Two, Kerr leased additional equipment and hired additional operators to <br />expedite final reclamation. This reduced the time required for final reclamation of <br />active mining areas from approximately ten years to less than two year.Section <br />780.18 Ibl <br />The plans for handling overburden are the most practicable and desirable means of <br />achieving final reclamation of mine disturbance areas from both an environmental and <br />engineering perspective. Given the existing disturbance and economic uncertainties, <br />these plans provided for timely and effective reclamation of mining related disturbance <br />while maintaining the flexibility necessary to evaluate and pursue potential options. <br />Under the backfilling plans, area disturbed outside of the actual mining area were <br />• minimized, the amount of overburden rehandle was kept to a minimum, and <br />TR-19 780-68b Revised 11/98 <br />