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West Elk Mine <br />The mine roads require relatively little surface maintenance. Holes and ruts are patched in the <br />early stages with a cold mix of composition similar to the original road mix. In addition to <br />pavement maintenance on roads, maintenance operations include shaping and sealing of <br />shoulders, cutting back or chemically treating weed and bush growth, maintaining ditches and <br />drains, removing litter, and repainting stripes. Snow and ice removal during the winter months <br />are a roadway maintenance priority. Parking and side areas are similarly maintained for safe and <br />efficient use. <br />Light-Use Roads <br />A gravel surfaced light-use road has been constructed around the southern and eastern perimeter <br />of the Ml;-2R sedimentation pond and around the base of the lower refuse pile for occasion-al <br />construction and maintenance equipment uses. Two short roads (approximately 150 ft. long) and <br />associated pads have been constructed from existing mine site roads to provide access: for <br />emergency repair and maintenance along the C-1 conveyor, to the water tank topsoil pile, to the <br />switchgear buildings above the portals, and to the power-poles located along the west side of <br />Sylvester Gulch Haul/Access road and north of the Sylvester Gulch F-Seam fan. When these <br />roads and pads are no longer required for operations, the roads will be graded back to <br />approximate original contour and reclaimed. The road between the ROM coal stockpile pad and <br />the product coal stockpile has been designated as a light-use road. The overall grade of the road <br />is 7.6 percent. The road is surfaced with asphalt or roadbase. An existing road in the Lone Pine <br />_ Gulch area has been widened and graveled as a light-use road to access the Lone Pine Gulch fan <br />site. This road will be left in place at final reclamation to allow continued access for the <br />landowners and lessees of the area and is consistent with the approved post-mining land uses of <br />rangeland and wildlife habitat. <br />Light-use roads to the water tank and to the Sylvester Gulch high-voltage transmission line were <br />constructed in the Spring of 1997. Other light-use roads for the Sylvester Gulch Facilities Area <br />include the electric borehole road, the ventilation shaft #3 road, the degasification borehole road, <br />and the powerline light-use road. <br />Light-use roads are also used in association with methane drainage well drilling and operations. <br />These roads will be reclaimed upon completion of methane drainage well operations. <br />Existing roads constructed prior to the mine, which provide access to monitoring stations, and <br />other existing site roads, not otherwise designated, will be utilized and maintained as light-use <br />roads. Some existing public roads (e.g. USFS roads, etc.) are utilized for access to monitoring <br />sites, etc. A Road Use Permit, with annual updates as necessary, was issued by the USFS, which <br />authorizes these uses and any maintenance required. These existing roads will not be <br />reconstructed if they do not meet light-use road design standards, unless a maintenance problem <br />is identified, requiring a design revision. The pre-existing roads located outside the mine site <br />will not be removed or restored to approximate original contour, as these roads were a part of <br />the pre-mine site original contour. <br />Department of Highway Approvals <br />2.05-26 Revised June 2005 PRIG; Rev. January 2006; Rev. March 2006; Rev. April 2006 PRIO, May 2006 PRIO; Rev. January 2009 MR-350