2009-12-16_REPORT - C1981019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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3. Based on the information contained in the 2008 Annual Reclamation Report, Colowyo did not perform any backfilling and regrading, topsoil replacement or reseeding work during the 2008 reporting year. As noted in 2 above, Colowyo did redisturb 36.5 acres in the Section 16 Pit area. Of these 36.5 acres, 17.5 acres had been Phase II Bond released and the remaining 19.0 acres has not been released. Once Colowyo completes final reclamation on the 17.5 acres that have been Phase II released the 10-year liability clock will be restarted again and Phase I and Phase II Bond releases will be required again (as will a Phase III Bond Release for final termination of jurisdiction). Since Colowyo did not perform any backfilling and grading in the 2008 reporting year they are behind in their reclamation. Colowyo has presented a new and ambitious reclamation schedule for the years 2009-2012. This reclamation schedule is detailed on Map 29. 4. Colowyo disturbed an additional 359.0 acres during the 2008 reporting year. This disturbance was mainly in conjunction with the South Taylor Pit box-cut and the construction work on the West Taylor and East Taylor excess spoil fills. Since Colowyo did not perform any backfilling and grading operations during the 2008 reporting year, no overburden monitoring was completed. Overburden monitoring will need to be completed for all future backflled and regraded areas using the approved overburden monitoring plan on permit page 2.05-3 (also shown in Section 8 of the 2008 Annual Reclamation Report). 6. As stated above, Colowyo did not perform any topsoil replacement operations during the 2008 reporting year. Colowyo did strip 928,764 cubic yards of topsoil over 323.2 acres in 2008. The topsoil stripping operations were primarily conducted in the South Taylor box-cut area and the West Taylor and East Taylor permanent fill areas. This volume of topsoil corresponds to an average depth of 1.78 feet (21.4 inches). This topsoil was placed into the 16D pile (548,690 yards), the 16E pile (5,912 yards) and the new 18 pile (374,162 yards). During the 2008 reporting year there was a 2.1 acre topsoil removal exemption area along the Section 29 perimeter ditch. This area was exempted from topsoil removal due to safety concerns associated with the steep slopes. The topsoil exemption area, as well as previous exemption areas, is shown on the Annual Reclamation Map, Exhibit 5A. 7. Colowyo did provide copies of seed tags in Figure 4-2. These tags were for the seed mix used for the temporary seeding and stabilization of their topsoil stockpiles and the reclamation of their exploration sites. The seed mix information contained on the seed tags matched the information contained in Rule 4.15 of the Colowyo permit. 8. Colowyo provided information regarding its permanent seed mix on pages 4-3 through 4-5 of the 2008 Annual Reclamation Report. While this information was correct for the 2008 reclamation year, the seed mix was changed with the approval of Technical Revision 72, approved on 24 June 2009. Based on