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Wesl Elk aline <br />from the mine on the run -of -mine belt and /or is hauled with equipment out of the main portal. <br />This refuse may be temporarily stockpiled in the screening plant reject bin or on the stack -tube <br />bench, and on the portal bench or in the nearby concrete bunkers. respectively. Coal refuse is <br />also Qenerated from the screening plant and from the Coal Preparation Plant (CPP). The <br />amount of coal refuse produced is variable. The refuse materials that accumulate in temporary <br />storage areas are hauled by truck to the permanent refuse disposal area. <br />Four permanent refuse disposal areas and one development waste pile are permitted at West <br />Elk Mine. Initially, refuse was temporarily stockpiled in an area formerly called the U.S. <br />Steel laydown area. This area was enlarged and converted to a permanent refuse pile called <br />the Lower Refuse Disposal Area or Lower Refuse Pile (LRP). A permanent refuse pile is also <br />permitted for the meadow above the portal bench. This area is referred to as the Upper Refuse <br />Disposal Area (URDA). Although this upper refuse disposal area has been approved for <br />construction, it has not vet been constructed. Construction of the URDA w ill occur in the <br />future, if needed. All construction information about these two disposal areas is contained in <br />Exhibit 50 (URDA) and Exhibit 51 (LRP). <br />As MCC projected that the Lower Refuse Pile would reach its maximum storage capacity in <br />1997, a third refuse disposal area was designed. The Refuse Pile Expansion (RPE) area was <br />designed and prepared to the east of the Lower Refuse Pile and east of Sylvester Gulch. As <br />described in Exhibit 51, refuse disposal at the LRP ceased before reaching the maximum <br />designed storage capacity, because all refuse disposal was being handled in the RPE area (as of <br />October 1998). Refuse disposal at the RPE will also cease before reaching it maximum <br />designed capacity to accommodate a refuse bin for the RPE: East area described below, file <br />desiun information and baseline data for the RPE area are contained in Exhibit 70. <br />With projections for the RPE area to reach its maximum designed capacity by the end of 2010. <br />MCC completed design and engineering of the RPE Fast refuse disposal area, located within <br />No Name Gulch, approximately one mile southeast of the WEM main portals. Refuse to he <br />disposed in this area will primarily be generated from the CPP and will be conveyed to a <br />refuse bin located east of Sylvester Gulch on top of the RPE. After the refuse bin is in place <br />and the RPE East (RPEE) area is operational, the RPEE will be MCC's primary permanent <br />refuse disposal area. Approximately 150,000 cubic yards of compacted refuse may be <br />temporarily stockpiled on the RPE and /or LRP when the RPEE is inaccessible (e.g. inclement <br />weather, poor ground conditions, etc.) and will be later hauled to the RPEE for permanent <br />disposal. Approximately five to six, 20 yard truckloads per hour (when CPP refuse is beiffil <br />generated) will be hauled from the refuse bin to the RPEE. An average of 300,000 tons per <br />vear of coal refuse is expected to be compacted into the refuse pile, with a maximum of <br />500,000 tons anticipated in any given year. Detailed engineering and designs of' the RPE East <br />area, including haul roads and drainage features, is included in Exhibit 82. <br />The Lone Pine Gulch Development Waste Pile contained approximately 17.000 cubic yards of <br />material generated from the development of the Lone Pine Gulch fan intake and return entries. <br />Designs for this pile are contained in Exhibit 42A. This development waste pile was <br />c..i0 ifs 1 1-1 it r o3 06, 1){,06 ,e 05 06 PRIO. (A (,v- i (/I h; ','I -; l' ?; , '}9 (0- I, +.'i ', In 1"'1 '0, 10 t?_ 1 /R_,,�,� <br />