Shoreline required for resource extraction

[bobpbx]

I'm hoping someone smarter than me on this board can help me interpret something in the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan regarding bodies of water created by resource extraction (sand plants). In the plan, this verbiage below is one of the requirements for restoration of the site when mining is completed:

"Any body of water created by the resource extraction operation shall have a
shoreline not less than three feet above and three feet below the projected
average water table elevation. The shoreline both above and below the
surface water elevation shall have a slope of not less than five feet horizontal
to one foot vertical."

I understand the second sentence, but not the first one. I've sketched my interpretation of the second sentence on graph paper below. Can someone explain to me what is meant by the first sentence?

 

[manumuskin]

This semi related.I have noticed the sand plants down here are now using their waste sand from holes being dug to fill in old sand wash ponds their done with. makes for some interesting quicksand trembling earth type areas.I don't know if they are required now by law to do this or have reasoned it's a good place to put waste sand?

 

[RednekF350]

Bob,

I filed a resource extraction permit application and several renewals for an operation in Hamilton Township Atlantic County. We were only held to the 5:1 slopes and I don't ever recall having to address the shoreline standard. In my opinion, the 3' of graded shoreline above and below the average water table is to create a traversable and somewhat safe area along the waters edge. It prohibits a vertical shelf.
7:50-6.69(a) 7. addresses the natural angle of repose of the material below the waterline beyond that shoreline. In my experience, the sandy materials under water attain that angle as soon as the area is left alone.

Oddly, in my 35 years of working on development applications under the Pinelands jurisdiction, resource extraction is one of the easier applications processes to navigate.

 

[bobpbx]

Bob,

I filed a resource extraction permit application and several renewals for an operation in Hamilton Township Atlantic County. We were only held to the 5:1 slopes and I don't ever recall having to address the shoreline standard. In my opinion, the 3' of graded shoreline above and below the average water table is to create a traversable and somewhat safe area along the waters edge. It prohibits a vertical shelf.
7:50-6.69(a) 7. addresses the natural angle of repose of the material below the waterline beyond that shoreline. In my experience, the sandy materials under water attain that angle as soon as the area is left alone.

Oddly, in my 35 years of working on development applications under the Pinelands jurisdiction, resource extraction is one of the easier applications processes to navigate.

Oh, thanks Scott. I see now...I was thinking (duh) vertically, not along the slope. You mean this below, right?

 

[bobpbx]

Scott, another question. The plan has the requisite 300 foot buffer between a wetland and the edge of his mine, but I see another requirement I can't make out called the "transition area adjacent to intermediate or exceptional resource value wetlands." Is that the same as the wetland buffer, or is it something additional needed beyond the buffer?

 

[RednekF350]

Outside the Pinelands jurisdiction all projects are subject to NJAC 7:7A Bob.
There are 3 wetland resource value classifications under those rules and three transition area widths based on the classification.

The first is Ordinary Value which essentially covers ditches and some drainage features of manmade origin. There is no transition area required.

The second is Intermediate Value which is your average, natural wetland. It could be forested, scrub/shrub, marsh, etc.. A transition area of 50' is required for intermediate value.

Third is Exceptional Value. These wetlands are wetlands that usually contain a documented population of T&E plants or animals OR their habitats. The required transition area is 150'.

The NJDEP doesn't leave the resource value determination up to the consultants (like me ) but determines it themselves as part of your application. They will confirm your resource values and transition areas in writing with their final permit or Letter of Interpretation. I have had several projects with multiple resource value classifications and multiple transition area widths.

In the Pinelands jurisdictional area the standard wetland transition area (buffer) is 300'. If your project site is in a developed area, it is relatively easy to get a reduction using the Pinelands Buffer Delineation Model. The model is a series of questions regarding the environmental characteristics, Pinelands Management Area, and other factors on and surrounding your project site. You end up with a numerical value that you compare to a table that assigns a reduced buffer. For instance, in the central Atco area a buffer of 110' is typical after working the model. See attached Model.

 

[bobpbx]

Scott, thank you for that information. So, essentially you are saying that the 150 foot transition is only applicable to high quality areas outside the pinelands.

I read the model, and the expansion of this sand mine requires a 300 foot buffer, no doubt about it; it is in the preservation district, it is adjacent to a white cedar swamp along a pineland stream, and it is a resource extraction activity.

But, have you ever run into something similar to this: they are expanding onto a gentle slope that runs down to the buffer. It seems odd that the hydrology won't be affected by that. See the below lidar map showing the expanded area. The red line is the (plant side) edge of the 300 foot buffer and reaches a wetland line delineated by engineers and approved by the PC.

 

[RednekF350]

Haven't run into that exact situation Bob although the operation in Hamilton got a lot of neighbor farmers up in arms asserting that their wells were running dry because of dewatering that was taking place on our site.

Our site was an old borrow pit remnant from the original AC Expressway construction. It had a large pit and a large horse farm associated with the AC Horse Racing Track. Our client bought it in the 80's and decided to do dragline excavation of the remaining soils. He was allowed to go 40' below the water table. I was amazed that he was able to accomplish that with a dragline but he did. It was very cool to watch it in progress. He built a huge spoil pile that was allowed to dewater and return to the excavation.

He had a barge mounted pump that he ran daily to help lower the water table and counter the return water and to expose more soil that could just be pulled and loaded with a conventional excavator. After about 6 months the dewatering triggered the complaints from the farmers. The Cape Atlantic Soil Conservation District got involved and made our client construct a large scale irrigation system onsite that irrigated horse pasture area and allowed a lot of the water to return to the aquifer. Prior to that the pump had a very long discharge line that allowed the water to blast into a local stream. After awhile he stopped dewatering because it wasn't really helping that much with his excavation work and fuel for the huge diesel-fired pump was getting expensive.

In your example, I think the type of mining planned determines its effects on the hydrology. If they are employing hydraulic dredging and the spoil piles allow return water to do just that, return to the pond, I don't think there will be an immediate effect on the water table. I don't know enough about hydraulic dredging to say what the long term effects would be. Our guy affected the water table because he was initially pumping groundwater from the mining area and discharging it to a distant stream.

 

[RednekF350]

I am attaching a Bing image of the operation I worked on. The owner never did finish the excavation because the low grade material (lots of clay and silt) was hard to market. He passed away and the land ended up with a developer who tried to market a few building lots around the lake but they went belly up.
It is owned by a real estate firm now but there is still no progress on the houses.

Our guy was a decent guy and two of his other operations eventually became beautiful Township multi-use parks, one in Winslow and one in Gloucester Township.

 

[bobpbx]

Thanks for the info Scott. Our guy is not like your guy. He has gone hog-wild. The cliffs are 30 to 35 feet high, and probably approach at least 55 degrees on the one he already dug. He is going to have a hard time creating a slope.

 

[PineBarrens Advocate]

Thanks for the info Scott. Our guy is not like your guy. He has gone hog-wild. The cliffs are 30 to 35 feet high, and probably approach at least 55 degrees on the one he already dug. He is going to have a hard time creating a slope.

View attachment 8716

Not to sidetrack your original query but a quick question.....when excavation operations like this occur do they find fossilized animal remains or uncover archaeological items? Achieving depths like that they must be delving into some deep historical timeframes.

 

[manumuskin]

I have found small scallop shell fossils in Pea gravel excavated from Cumberland county pits,thats about all i have found though.

 

[RednekF350]

Not to sidetrack your original query but a quick question.....when excavation operations like this occur do they find fossilized animal remains or uncover archaeological items? Achieving depths like that they must be delving into some deep historical timeframes.

Yes there are fossils in the sands and clays that are exposed during mining. I grew up in Gibbsboro and there were several active mining operations in Gibbsboro and Voorhees. Tri-Boro actually located in 4 municipalities is still rolling full bore.

The pit I spent a lot of time in when I was a kid was Buzby Brothers on Gibbsboro-Clementon Road. Those gravel operations were like a magnet to me with the larger than life equipment and the draw of the mysterious bottomless lakes. Of course true to urban legend each lake was said to hold a crane or dump truck at the bottom with the operator's skeleton still at the controls.

My Dad brought home large pieces of petrified wood from Buzby's around the time I was born and when I got older my sister and I used to cart it to school for Show and Tell. I found smaller pieces on my own too when I got older. I always remember him telling me that pieces of that wood were in the Academy of Natural Sciences. He wasn't kidding me.
See the link below.

http://www.johnbetts-fineminerals.com/jhbnyc/mineralmuseum/picshow.php?id=38359

 

[PineBarrens Advocate]

Yes there are fossils in the sands and clays that are exposed during mining. I grew up in Gibbsboro and there were several active mining operations in Gibbsboro and Voorhees. Tri-Boro actually located in 4 municipalities is still rolling full bore.

The pit I spent a lot of time in when I was a kid was Buzby Brothers on Gibbsboro-Clementon Road. Those gravel operations were like a magnet to me with the larger than life equipment and the draw of the mysterious bottomless lakes. Of course true to urban legend each lake was said to hold a crane or dump truck at the bottom with the operator's skeleton still at the controls.

My Dad brought home large pieces of petrified wood from Buzby's around the time I was born and when I got older my sister and I used to cart it to school for Show and Tell. I found smaller pieces on my own too when I got older. I always remember him telling me that pieces of that wood were in the Academy of Natural Sciences. He wasn't kidding me.
See the link below.

http://www.johnbetts-fineminerals.com/jhbnyc/mineralmuseum/picshow.php?id=38359

Fantastic!

 

[bobpbx]

Not to sidetrack your original query but a quick question.....when excavation operations like this occur do they find fossilized animal remains or uncover archaeological items? Achieving depths like that they must be delving into some deep historical timeframes.

Funny you ask that. I had a very interesting conversation with somebody in the know last week. He said he was talking to a worker he knew that helped run the dredge. He said they ran into an ancient swamp, and hit some wood, and that it was a pain because they didn't want the wood mixing in. I asked him where, and he said in the back, where it is blackish-looking. That really intrigues me, whether true or not. Right?

 

[PineBarrens Advocate]

Funny you ask that. I had a very interesting conversation with somebody in the know last week. He said he was talking to a worker he knew that helped run the dredge. He said they ran into an ancient swamp, and hit some wood, and that it was a pain because they didn't want the wood mixing in. I asked him where, and he said in the back, where it is blackish-looking. That really intrigues me, whether true or not. Right?

View attachment 8718

Yes, very intriguing. If it is an intact swamp and the wood could be carbon dated it would give a wonderful snapshot of the flora during that time in history.

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Funny you ask that. I had a very interesting conversation with somebody in the know last week. He said he was talking to a worker he knew that helped run the dredge. He said they ran into an ancient swamp, and hit some wood, and that it was a pain because they didn't want the wood mixing in. I asked him where, and he said in the back, where it is blackish-looking. That really intrigues me, whether true or not. Right?

View attachment 8718

Any input from Spung-Man?

BTW, is there a way to tag members on this site?

 

[Boyd]

BTW, is there a way to tag members on this site?

Not sure what you have in mind by "tagging", but try something such as @pinelandpaddler. Depending on the user's settings, it may send them a notification.

 

[RednekF350]

BTW, is there a way to tag members on this site?

Yes I am tagging you as insolent.