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Bear Fork Surface Mine and Cattle Farm
Client: Premier Elkhorn Coal Company—Pike County, Kentucky
Premier Elkhorn Coal Company executed a surface lease agreement with the Johnson family that would enable them to develop a large eastern Kentucky surface mine in Pike County. The lease required Premier Elkhorn Coal Company to create the maximum extent of gently sloping functional pasture land. Upon evaluating Premier's production & operational needs and the functional needs necessary to support the Johnson's herd, Summit Engineering developed a mine plan to facilitate the desires of both. The key component of the plan was the variance from the approximate original contour that permitted spoil material to be placed in valley fills,
in lieu of stacking the spoil material on the mine bench.
Summit obtained all the state and federal permits necessary for a successful project. All requirements of the Kentucky Division of Mine Permits and Army Corps of Engineers concerns for Clean Water Act were satisfied. The mining & reclamation plan and the 404 permit application adequately addressed the dual purpose of mining & creation of pastureland. A backfill plan was devised that placed as much spoil material as possible on the mine bench and while still providing a sufficient acreage of gentle sloping pasture land to meet the needs of the Johnson family. Stream impacts were minimized by effectively utilizing previously impacted areas for valley fills and by developing innovative techniques to mitigate unavoidable stream impacts. 404 permits for mine sites that allow a variance for the post mining configuration to vary from the approximate contour are somewhat rare. Summit was successful in this endeavor and the 404 permit for this site was issued. This mine site will provide 860,000 tons of mineable coal reserves for Premier Elkhorn Coal Company and 283 acres of valuable pasture land for the Johnson family.
