PERMFILE121081

• Permit No: M1982036
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 5/14/1982
• Section_Exhibit Name: MESA PIT - INTRODUCTION
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

CJ
MESA GRAVEL PIT
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND

The proposed permit area is approximately 4.5 miles southeast of the town
of Hayden, Colorado in Routt County. This application is an expansion of
the existing operation. The original Mesa Gravel Pit was permitted in
August 1980 as a 9.95 acre tract. The gravel from this pit was and is cur-
rently being used for surfacing material on the coal haulage roads at the
Seneca II Mine. As shown on Exhibit D-I, Mining Plan, almost half of the
existing 9.95 acre permit area is taken up by stockpiles, o sediment pond,
and a drainage ditch. The gravel in this pit had more fines in it than origi-
nally estimated so consequently more material had to be used for road
surfacing. Most of the original permit area has now been mined and thus the
reason for this permit submittal.
• NEW PERMIT APPLICATION AREA
This new permit application takes in the existing 9.95 acre tract plus an
additional 83.75 acres for a total permit area of 93.7 acres.
As shown in the application, Peabody Coal Company has studied all of the
environmental disciplines (i.e., soils, vegetation, wildlife, and hydrology) at
the Mesa Gravel Pit. The information gained from these studies aided in the
development of both an economically and environmentally acceptable mining
and reclamation plan.
The proposed permit area is currently used for small grain production. The
area will be returned to small grain production after mining.
Mining operations will be conducted with equipment from the Seneca II
Mine. A scraper will remove the topsoil and overburden. Then afront-end
loader will load the gravel into trucks for delivery to the mine. The scrapers
• will then replace the overburden and topsoil and the area will be revege-
tated. The application describes the above operations in detail.