Laserfiche WebLink
was approved for a 25.5 acre area of the north block and a 41.8 acre area of the south block, <br />within the original permit area. Rough backfilling and grading had been completed <br />throughout the original permit area as of October 2004, with the exception of a 300 foot <br />segment of the Wadge "ridgeline pit" along the eastern ridgeline, at the extreme southern <br />end of the original permit area. Most of this pit is within the south extension area, and it <br />was subject to a separate variance approval and backfilling deadline, addressed below. <br />SCC amended and clarified requests for a variance in contemporaneous reclamation under <br />4.14.1(1)(c), applicable to specified areas of the A Pit within the original permit area, and <br />portions of the Wadge South Pits and Wolf Creek/Sage Creek Pits within the South <br />Extension Area. As previously noted, rough backfilling and grading had been completed as <br />of October 2004 throughout the original permit area, with the exception of a 300 foot <br />segment of the Wadge "ridgeline pit" at the extreme south end of the original permit area. <br />In accordance with variance approvals granted under PR-3 and subsequent TR-46, the <br />backfilling deadline for the "ridgeline pit" was set at December 31, 2004. <br />In the PR-4 application, the applicant proposed extensive modification of backfilling and <br />grading schedules. The modified schedule included an amended request for a variance from <br />the 180 day backfilling and grading requirement of 4.14.1(1)(c). The variance request <br />applied to the 1600' Wadge "ridgeline pit" within the extreme southern portion of the <br />original permit area and northern portion of the south extension area. In addition, the <br />variance request applied to extensive segments of the Wadge final pits and associated spoils <br />extending through much of the length of the south extension area. The highwall mining and <br />subsequent pit backfilling proposed within PR-4 could not be completed along the length of <br />the final Wadge pits, without approval of a variance from the 180 day time frame for rough <br />backfilling and grading following surface extraction. <br />Rule 4.14.1(1)(c) states that: <br />Rough backfilling and grading shall be completed within 180 days following coal <br />removal and shall not be more than four spoil ridges behind the pit being worked, the <br />spoil from the active pit being considered the first ridge. The Division may grant <br />additional time for rough backfilling and grading if the permittee can demonstrate, <br />through a detailed written analysis under 2.05.4(2)(c), that additional time is <br />necessary. <br />PR-4 amendments identified specific dragline final pit locations for which a variance from <br />the 4.14.1(1)(c) backfilling timeframe requirement was requested, in order to accommodate <br />highwall miner operations. The locations included 1600 feet of the Wadge "ridgeline pit" <br />to be completed by the end of 2005, and specified segments of existing and future final <br />Wadge Pits in the south extension area to be completed in 2006 and 2007. The total length <br />of final highwall to which the variance applied was 9,200 feet. <br />Seneca II-W Findings Document 47 C1982057 <br />Permit Renewal No. 5 December 9, 2010