Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br />Letter to Kutt Nielsen 5 April 18. 1999 <br />and transport it to a landfill, the location of a landfill that would accept the contaminated material and <br />the tipping fee that would apply. <br />8. Wildlife issues to be addressed are listed here. <br />a) It is stated in the permit application that the evaporation pond and the plant site will be fenced. <br />Eight foot high chain link or equivalent will be required to exclude mule deer. Please provide a <br />description of the fence to be installed. Include a description of installation measures to be <br />employed to assure that wildlife will be prevented from crawling under the fence. <br />b) DMG understands that American Soda has decided to net the evaporation pond prior to <br />discharging any solutions. Please provide an affirmation if this understanding. <br />c) Reestablishment of wildlife habitat on disturbed land will be lazgely a function of the successful <br />reestablishment of woody stem plant species. The reclamation plan included in the permit <br />application proposes seed mixtures that include both herbaceous and shrub species. Both DMG <br />and the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) aze concerned with the potential for grasses to <br />out compete shrubs for available moisture and thus hinder shrub establishment on the reclaimed <br />landscape (see DOW letter dated March 23, 1999, copy attached). In order to better assure that <br />shrubs and the wildlife habitat that they provide are efficiently reestablished, DMG suggests that <br />the following elements be incorporated into the reclamation plan. Please provide an addendum <br />to the reclamation plan incorporating these suggestions. <br />(i) Reclamation of larger disturbed azeas should incorporate strips of land, located along <br />contour, where no grass seed is planted. These contour strips would be approximately <br />20 feet wide and spaced every 100 to 300 feet. Within these strips, shrub tublings would <br />be planted on 4 to 5 foot centers with a fertilizer pellet and a mesh (vexar) seedling <br />protection tube. The shrub species listed in the seed mixtures would be appropriate for <br />planting as tublings. <br />(ii) DOW suggests in the enclosed letter that American Soda could establish sagebrush pazks <br />and bitterbtvsh or other palatable browse stands on designated abandoned well pads. <br />DMG recommends that the designation of well pads suitable for this type of reclamation <br />be conducted at the time of routine DMG monitoring inspections, possibly conducted <br />jointly with personnel from DOW and BLM. <br />For the purpose of estimating reclamation costs for the implementation of these habitat <br />restoration procedures, DMG will assume that 20 percent of the reclaimed acreage will initially <br />be planted with shrub tublings at a rate of 2200 shrubs per acre. However, it may be worthwhile <br />to experiment with seeding (rather than planting tublings) to shrubs on some of the designated <br />well pads to develop a comparative database on the relative success of seeding versus planting. <br />DOW suggests in the enclosed letter that a woody stem density standard be applied as a <br />criterion for final reclamation bond release. [t is the position of the DMG that the performance <br />standards contained in the Rules and in the Mined land Reclamation Act are adequate to assure <br />that that sufficient woody stems to support wildlife uses will be established before the bond can <br />be released. In particular, section 34-32- l02(I), C.R.S. requires mined land to be reclaimed to a <br />