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the Section 16 Pit will also merge with the South Taylor Pit. The final cut of the Section 16 Pit <br />is currently being used as a haul road corridor for the South Taylor Mining operations. Coal is <br />hauled from the South Taylor Pit, through the Section 16 Pit to Haul Road A and ultimately to <br />the coal stockpile. Colowyo has submitted Technical Revision 76, which is a new haul road on <br />the west side of the West Pit. This new haul road will rerplace the Section 16 Pit haul road. <br />Once this haul road is constructed, Colowyo can commence final reclamation of the Section 16 <br />Pit. <br />With the approval of PR-02, Colowyo permitted the South Taylor Pit. The South Taylor Pit is a <br />multi-seam operation that will mine up to 17 coal seams and seam-complexes. The seams that <br />will be mined in the South Taylor Pit are the "A", "B", "C", "D", E", "F" and "G" and their <br />complexes. The seams range in thickness from 2.5 feet to 17 feet and the overburden and <br />interburden ranges in thickness from 2 feet to 65 feet. Currently, Colowyo is working on <br />vpeiiig uic ox-cuL 1%J uic .?vuui 1ay1 -It iviiiiI wiii progress up-dip to LIM JVul11WeJL <ucii <br />continue down-dip to the north east. The initial box-cut material is being placed in the East <br />Taylor Fill. The East Taylor Fill is permitted for 50 million cubic yards of permanent excess <br />spoil. Additionally, Colowyo has permitted the West Taylor Fill for an additional 10 million <br />cubic yards of permanent excess spoil. The Division has approved a variance from <br />contemporaneous reclamation for the South Taylor Pit due to the mining conditions. Upon <br />completion of the box-cut, the overburden and interburden from the upper seams of the South <br />Taylor Pit will be hauled to two temporary overburden stockpiles (TS West and TS East), which <br />will contain approximately 44 million cubic yards of material. The dragline spoils will remain in <br />the pit. Final backfilling and grading will consist of grading the final spoils on the northwest <br />edge of the pit, ripping and reducing the highwall and hauling back all of the temporary spoil <br />from TS West and TS East into the pit. Map 29A details the spoil grading plan. <br />Topsoil Removal <br />Topsoil is removed using dozers, excavators and haul trucks. Generally, a dozer is used to push <br />the topsoil off of the slope and into a drainage bottom or other flatter area. The topsoil is then <br />loaded into haul trucks using an excavator. Stripped topsoil is hauled directly to graded spoil <br />areas on the trailing edge of the pits or to topsoil storage piles for later distribution during <br />reclamation. Topsoil from the South Taylor mining area will be stored in two topsoil stockpiles <br />(Topsoil 1 and Topsoil 2) as shown on Map 28A. <br />Blasting <br />Blasting fractures overburden and interburden. The rubble overburden from the top three to four <br />seams in the advancing edges of the East and West Pits is removed by truck-and-shovel <br />operations. This material is hauled around the active pit and dumped into the active pits on the <br />trailing side. Cast blasting (with explosives) and back casting with draglines are used for the <br />removal of rubble overburden above the lower seams, in both the East and West Pits, and was <br />used in the Section 16 Pit. Initial box-cut material from the East Pit was placed in the Streeter <br />Fill. Initial box-cut material from the West Pit was placed in the West Pit permanent excess spoil <br />Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance 14 September 2009 <br />Permit Renewal 05 Page 26