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<br /> <br />Anthony J. Waldron December 1, 1995 <br />Re: 1995 Annual Reclamation Report <br />(c) Acres Backfilled and Graded: <br />The approved reclamation plan for final contours at the <br />Bear and Lower Hubbard Creek sites was submitted <br />February 9, 1984 as part of the Stipulation No. 5 <br />response to the permit issued to U.S. Steel Corporation <br />on October 11, 1983. Stipulation No. 5 states: "U.S. <br />Steel shall submit a demonstration that the proposed <br />post-mining contours of all areas for which they have <br />applied for a variance from the approximate original <br />contour restoration requirements, will be stable with a <br />static factor of safety of 1.3 within 120 days after <br />permit issuance." The stability analysis produced a <br />factor of safety for the final contours of 1.345 to <br />1.711 for the Bear Creek site and 5.767 to 126.640 for <br />the Lower Hubbard Creek site. Stipulation No. 5 <br />response was approved by the Division on April 3, 1984. <br />As a result of an Office of Surface Mining oversight <br />inspection May 12, 1994, the Division issued a letter <br />on May 16, 1994: "The information required to rectify <br />these permit defects are:...Written landowner request <br />for a variance from achieving the approximate original <br />contour during backfilling and grading operations at <br />the Bear and Lower Hubbard Creek Canyon facilities <br />(2.06.5(2)(e)). These requests must come from the <br />respective landowners of these sites, and these will <br />supplement the existing findings for these areas." <br />On May 27, 1994, an application for a minor revision <br />was submitted, which included a letter dated May 25, <br />1994 from the Bureau of Land Management, the surface <br />owner of the Bear and Lower Hubbard Creek sites: "We <br />have reviewed the proposed reclamation for these two <br />areas as you requested and we approve of the <br />reclamation as described in the Somerset Mining Company <br />Permit No. C-81-022. We understand the areas cannot be <br />reclaimed to original contours because of the steep <br />topography." Minor Revision No. 25 was approved on <br />July 7, 1994. <br />The Office of Surface Mining inspection report, issued <br />July 18, 1994: "OSM finds that given the approved <br />post-mining land use, and the lack of demonstration by <br />the Operator, DMG cannot approve an AOC waiver under <br />the Colorado Program." The report further stated <br />regarding a Ten-Day-Notice: OSM is not issuing a TDN <br />at this time because grading operations had not yet <br />started." <br />3 <br />