SEQUENTIAL SAMPLING OF SURFACE-MINED LAND TO ASSESS RECLAMATION

Yearly, a larger percentage of government regulations are stated in st atistical terms. More than simple techniques are sometimes necessary t o comply with these regulations, both in analyzing and designing exper iments and surveys. The problem considered in this paper is how to eff iciently sample a mining site to show that the site has been successfu lly reclaimed. Different sequential analyses are suggested and a two-s tage plan by Stein is recommended and illustrated. This approach allow s us to sample with a predetermined probability of detecting a success ful reclamation. It is pointed out that the usual sample size formulas are not directly applicable to this problem.