SEQUENTIAL SAMPLING OF SURFACE-MINED LAND TO ASSESS RECLAMATION

Yearly, a larger percentage of government regulations are stated in statistical terms. More than simple techniques are sometimes necessary to comply with these regulations, both in analyzing and designing experiments and surveys. The problem considered in this paper is how to efficiently sample a mining site to show that the site has been successfully reclaimed. Different sequential analyses are suggested and a two-stage plan by Stein is recommended and illustrated. This approach allows us to sample with a predetermined probability of detecting a successful reclamation. It is pointed out that the usual sample size formulas are not directly applicable to this problem.