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at structures nearest to the blast. Blasting schedules are published in the local newspaper. Most <br />blasting occurs mid-day early in the week. Daily notifications are made prior to each blast to <br />certain individuals who have requested this service. <br />The primary coal seam to be recovered is the Lower Dakota seam; however, the Upper Dakota <br />seam will be recovered if it is thick enough and of sufficient quality. Maximum overburden <br />depth will approach 120 feet. Excavations currently have a north-south orientation and will <br />progress westward for the remainder of the life of the mine. <br />Mining began along the eastern subcrop of the New Horizon Mine 2 area. A panel mining <br />method is used to develop the pits (see Map 2.05.2-1). The panels vary in length, up to 3,500 <br />feet. The panel width will typically be 100 to 120 feet. The mine will occasionally have up to <br />two pits actively working in order to effectively mine the two seams. The overburden is <br />excavated using a shovel and t-cks and then placed or plashed into an adjacent nr m-nrhy <br />mined-out pit. <br />The reclamation plan is designed to replace agricultural lands, cropland - irrigated alfalfa <br />hayland and irrigated pastureland where the landowner owns shares of the CCC Ditch. The <br />remaining areas will be planted to dryland pasture. It is anticipated that wetland vegetation will <br />establish in low spots and adjacent to impoundments on the reclaimed landscape, due to the <br />presence of water from irrigation runoff. Continued incidental use of the reclaimed landscape by <br />wildlife similar to that which occurred prior to mining is expected. <br />Operations on Prime Farmland <br />There are two areas of designated Prime Farmland within the New Horizon Mine 2 permit area <br />as seen on Figure 2. The first is approximately 4.68 acres dominated by Begay soils (map unit <br />98A) in the northwest corner of the permit area (see permit Map 2.04.9-1) on land owned by <br />WFC. Approximately 3.96 acres has been disturbed by mining operations. The larger area of <br />Prime Farmland is the 107.96 acres of Morgan property within the permit boundary, southwest <br />of the intersection of 2700 Road and BB Road, which is dominated by Darvey-Bari complex <br />soils (map unit 98E). WFC will manage and reclaim these areas in accordance with Prime <br />Farmland requirements of Rule 2.06.6 and 4.25, as discussed in Section XVIII of this document. <br />Water Rights and Usage <br />The water rights, usage and augmentation plan is presented in Section 2.05.6(3) of the permit <br />application. There are 11 surface water rights that have the potential of being impacted by <br />Western Fuels - Colorado (WFC) operations at New Horizon Mine 2. These are upgradient of <br />Sediment Pond 007 at the site. There are 29 water wells adjacent to the mine sites. Of these, just <br />two, W-009 and D-041 on Figure 2 of Tab 16, could be impacted by mining activities at the New <br />Horizon Mine 2 site. These two wells are 150 feet or less deep and derive their water from near <br />surface aquifers. At the end of five years of operation, WFC estimated that drawdown might be <br />one foot within a 0.7 mile radius of the center of the New Horizon Mine 2 pit. WFC proposes, <br />with owner consent, to monitor these wells to detect any changes in their hydrologic conditions. <br />20