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After drilling and evaluation, plugging of the hole would commence. Providing that no <br />water is encountered while drilling, the hole would be back-filled and a cement plug <br />would be installed in the hole. In the event that water is encountered during drilling, <br />bentonite chips would fill the abandon hole and a 20' cement cap placed over the <br />bentonite chips to surface. Should an alternate plugging method be requested by the <br />BLM that procedure would be followed. Drill cuttings would be spread over the <br />surrounding area. <br />Minor low water crossings (bank cuts) are proposed within the project area in order to <br />allow passage of construction and drilling equipment across the ephemeral drainages. <br />Proposed locations of the low water crossings were selected based on four factors: 1) <br />where the natural condition of the drainage bank and bed would support the crossing <br />without the need for any fill; 2) where the bank cut to support the crossing would be <br />minimal; 3) where minimal soil disturbance would be required; and 4) where running <br />water is minimal or absent during moderate storm events. Each crossing would be <br />constructed to approximately 20 feet in width and to the site-specific vertical profile <br />necessary to avoid high-centering of the equipment. Upon the completion of the <br />exploration drilling, all bank cuts would be reconstructed to their original contour and <br />would be reclaimed according to standards of the BLM. A culvert with low water <br />crossing is proposed across the drainage to the AM-08-005 hole. The culvert has been <br />sized by a civil engineer and a culvert size of 48" determined. The culvert sizing report <br />has been included as Attachment 1 of this document. <br />Disturbance Estimates <br />Short-term surface disturbance as a direct result of project related operations including <br />drill rig travel routes and drill site construction is estimate at approximately 0.79 acres. <br />Blading and grading of the travel routes and the proposed fourteen drill sites would only <br />be completed if necessary. <br />Surface disturbance from each travel route would typically consist of two, 3-foot wide <br />tracks (total disturbance of six feet per travel route) from the floatation tire-equipped, 10- <br />foot wide drilling rig. To account for the turning radius of the equipment and the minor <br />deviation from the previously created 6 -foot wide tracks a total travel route width of 12- <br />feet has been assumed. A total of 2,160' of travel route across new and existing <br />disturbance is proposed with a total width of 12-feet for an estimated travel route <br />disturbance of 0.59 acres. Travel with the support truck and crew trucks for the <br />estimated four crew members would be minimized within the project area to further <br />reduce disturbance along the travel routes. A detailed breakdown of surface <br />disturbance for the project is given in Table 2 below.