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<br />OIAPTER II <br /> <br />ALTERNATIVES INCLUDING THE PROPOSED ACTION <br /> <br />Alternatives <br /> <br />The alternatives to the proposed action for drilling and testing a well <br />would be no action or the evaporation plan described in the Definite Plan Report <br />of 1978. with no action, an average of 205,000 tons of salt would continue to <br />flON into the Dolores River annually, affecting users of Colorado River water in <br />the lower basin. Under a plan described in the Definite Plan Report and Final <br />Environmental Statement, the unit could still be constructed using an <br />evaporation pond in Dry Creek Basin to rerove approximately 180,000 of the <br />205,000 tons of salt entering the Dolores River annually. <br /> <br />proposed Action <br /> <br />A pumping plant would convey brine through a buried pipeline 3.7 miles from <br />the brine well field in Paradox Valley (see frontispiece map) to an injection <br />well. Additional features constructed would be an access road, a power line, <br />and brine treatIrent facilities. The well would be tested for a period of 2 <br />years to determine the long-term rate at which the disposal formation would <br />accept brine and the well-head pressure necessary to obtain the proposed <br />injection rate. <br /> <br />Facilities to be Constructed <br /> <br />In'jection well <br /> <br />The location of the well would be approximately 1.2 miles south of Colorado <br />Highway 90 and approximately 0.1 mile east of the IXllores River. The drill site <br />would encanpass approximately 6 acres and would be fenced to limit access to <br />authorized personnel only. All drilling activity would be limited to this area. <br />Waste pits would be lined with polymeric rrembrane liners with the waste being <br />collected and rellKlVed from the site for disposal at an approved waste site or <br />sent back to the chemical supply canpany for recycling. A berm would be <br />constructed along the lower portion of the drilling site to prevent any spillage <br />from entering the river. <br /> <br />The 500-ton capacity drill rig would be operated 24 hours per clay until the <br />oottom of the hole would be reached at an approximate depth of 16,000 feet. <br />This drill rig would be powered either by diesel generators or by electricity <br />from nearby power lines. Drilling would require from 120 to 210 clays. <br /> <br />The well would be drilled through Mississippian Leadville Limestone <br />(disposal formation) through and into precambrain basement rock. Near the <br />surface, casing would vary in diameter from the 30-inch conductor casing used <br />near the surface to 5.5-inch casing through the injection zone (see Figure 1). <br />Once drilling and associated testing were canpleted, injection tubing would be <br />installed using a smaller work-over rig. The two-year injection testing prcgram <br />would begin in 1988. <br /> <br />3 <br /> <br />00 45 <br />