Laserfiche WebLink
2-26 <br />2.2 SURFACE FACILITIES <br />Initial earthwork involved the construction and improvement of an access road to <br />the coal outcrop (3.1 acres) and the excavation of a bench for support activities relative <br />to the exploration operation. The bench was excavated to only the size necessary for its <br />purpose (2.9 acres). The access road was provided along the hillside and adjacent to an <br />ephemeral drainage to a minimum width necessary to facilitate the desired road width <br />(approximately 30 feet) including a diversion ditch, a portion of the road with a MSHA <br />required berm, and sedimentation traps. Some fill was provided where possible to <br />minimize the width of the cut and the gradient of the access road. All excavation was <br />conducted in a manner necessary to create the most moderate slope possible. An <br />additional' area of disturbance consisting of 1.7 acres in the vicinity of the canyon mouth <br />was used after the initial permit approval for construction of a sedimentation pond and <br />topsoil stockpile, as shown in Figure 2.2.1. Anew disturbance consisting of 4.75 acres <br />will be used after the approval of technical revision application TR-16 which includes the <br />new disturbance required to construct the Coal Mine Waste pile, Topsoil and <br />Construction Material Piles and sediment pond. <br />The earthwork on the access road was carried out almost exclusively by <br />bulldozer and grader; however, a loader and trucks were used to remove excess <br />material from the steeper slopes and bench area to the improved roadbed on the <br />canyon floor. <br />All earth and rock removed in the construction of the bench area and upper <br />reaches of the access road were retained in the area for purposes of providing adequate <br />work area at the face-up and an MSHA required berm along the steeper portion of the <br />road. All excess materials as noted above were removed from the area for improvement <br />of an existing road from State Highway 139 into McClane Canyon (see Figure 2.2-1). <br />Placement of material on out slopes, for reasons explained above, does not constitute a <br />significant aerial disturbance, was not done in a manner that would affect stability, and <br />does not pose a potential harm to the hydrologic balance of the area. <br />TR-16 M`-Volume 1 (Rev 05/08) <br />