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expected on the amendment area, that is, a fairly deep gravel deposit that abruptly ends on the north side and found under fairly thick overburden. Much of the Fort Carson pit has either been reclaimed or is being reclaimed. It does not appear that this pit was operated recently. Mine Phasing Due to the small size of the amendment parcel, mining will not be subdivided into phases or areas. Charter Oak Ranch Road runs along the eastern boundary of the amendment area. The property and minable material beneath the road are owned by Edward C. Levy Company, the parent company of Schmidt Construction Company. There is no recorded easement or right -of- way for the road, although it is believed that El Paso County possesses a prescriptive easement for the road. The road is currently, and has historically been, used by residents living south of the Fountain Pit and proposed amendment area. Prior to mining, or as the amendment area is being mined, Schmidt Construction Company will pursue abandonment of the prescriptive easement so that mining can proceed through the road. This may potentially be accomplished by purchasing the properties that require use of Charter Oaks Ranch Road for access. In general, there will not be a distinctive direction of mining. Mining will likely consist of opening a pit in the proposed amendment area and expanding the pit until the gravel ends, a property line or setback is reached, or other factors prevent further mining. As the southern portions of the pit are mined, drainage connections to the valley floor will be established. It is anticipated that mining and reclaiming the proposed amendment area will take approximately three to five years. The rate of mining and overall life of the operation is dependent on several factors including product demand. However, once mining on the amendment area is initiated, mining will continue until the mining and reclamation plans are complete. Even though the proposed amendment area is a comparatively small site, integration of mining and reclamation is still applicable. In general, as the pit reaches its maximum depth and edges are completed, they will be reclaimed using cut and fill techniques (see Exhibit F -2, Reclamation Plan Typical Sections). In areas where the final pit depth has been achieved and operations are no longer present, reclamation of pit walls will extend onto the floor. The contouring of the pit with the valley floor will probably be one of the last steps in the mining and reclamation. The contour blending will avoid steep transitions and create a topography that produces a smooth, relatively low velocity flow from the mined area to the adjacent valley floor. Drainage courses will be incorporated into this transition so as to connect the pit floor with existing shallow drainage swales in the adjacent valley. During the majority of the mining operation, surface water from the pit will not drain from the permit area. Only at the very end of the reclamation activities will the mine pit area be graded and stabilized to allow surface drainage off of the permit area. During the mining and reclamation period, the appropriate stormwater discharge permit will be obtained from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the associated monitoring and stormwater management plan will be followed for surface water discharges. Fountain Pit M- 1982 -155 DRMS 112 Permit Amendment Revised in Response to Adequacy Review Comments Page 6