North Dakota Administrative Code › Title 69 - Public Service Commission › Article 69-05.2 - Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations › Chapter 69-05.2-08 - Permit Applications - Permit Area - Requirements for Information on Environmental Resources › Section 69-05.2-08-05 - Permit applications - Permit area - Geology description

Current through Supplement No. 393, July, 2024
1. The description
				must include a general statement of the geology within the permit area down
				through the deeper of either the stratum immediately below the deepest coal or
				commercial leonardite seam to be mined or any lower aquifer which may be
				adversely affected by mining.
2.
				Test borings or core samples from the permit area must be collected and
				analyzed down through the deeper of either the stratum immediately below the
				lowest coal or commercial leonardite seam to be mined or any lower aquifer
				which may be adversely affected by mining. The minimum density is one drill
				hole per forty acres [16.19 hectares] or a comparable spacing, or as specified
				by the commission. Overburden samples must be taken at five-foot [1.52-meter]
				intervals and taken dry whenever possible. Laboratory analyses must be made by
				the methods in United States department of agriculture handbook 525, Laboratory
				Methods Recommended for Chemical Analyses of Mined Land Spoils and Overburden
				in Western United States, by Sandoval and Power, or United States department of
				agriculture handbook 60, Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkali Soils,
				by the United States salinity laboratory staff, both available from the United
				States government printing office, Washington, D. C. The following information
				must be provided:
a. Location of subsurface
				water encountered.
b. Drill hole
				logs with gamma ray and density logs included as verification showing the
				lithologic characteristics and thickness of each stratum and coal or commercial
				leonardite seam.
c. Physical and
				chemical analyses of each overburden sample taken at five-foot [1.52-meter]
				intervals to identify horizons containing potential toxic-forming materials.
				Physical and chemical analyses of strata below the lowest coal or commercial
				leonardite seam to be mined must include one sample from each stratum. The
				analyses must include:
(1) pH.
(2) Sodium adsorption ratio (include calcium,
				magnesium, and sodium cation concentrations).
(3) Electrical conductivity of the saturation
				extract.
(4) Texture (by pipette or
				hydrometer method). Include percentage of sand, silt, and clay along with a
				general description of the physical properties of each stratum within the
				overburden.
(5) Saturation
				percentage if the sodium adsorption ratio is greater than twelve and less than
				twenty.
d. Coal or
				commercial leonardite seam analyses including sodium, ash, British thermal
				unit, and sulfur content.
e. Cross
				sections sufficient to show the major subsurface variations within the permit
				area down through the deeper of either the stratum immediately below the lowest
				coal or commercial leonardite seam to be mined or any lower aquifer which may
				be adversely affected by mining. The horizontal scale must be 1:4,800 and the
				vertical scale one inch [2.54 centimeters] equals twenty feet [6.10 meters]. To
				assess pit suitability for disposal of refuse, ash, and other residue from coal
				or commercial leonardite utilization processes, the information presented in
				this subsection must extend to a depth determined by the commission or to the
				base of the next confining clay stratum beneath the lowest coal or commercial
				leonardite seam to be mined.
f. A
				thickness (isopach) map of the overburden to the top of the deepest seam to be
				mined. The contour interval must be ten feet [3.05 meters] and the horizontal
				scale 1:4,800.
g. All coal or
				commercial leonardite crop lines and the strike and dip of the coal or
				commercial leonardite to be mined.