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King Coal Mine (C- 1981 -035) <br />MT -07 <br />The lower ( "B ") coal seam is well exposed at the Burnwell Mine, located adjacent to the King I <br />Mine. Operations began there in the 1940s, but the mine has long been abandoned and was <br />never permitted under SMCRA. The lower coal seam of the Menefee Formation has an average <br />thickness of 48 inches. This seam lies approximately 80 feet below the upper seam, with inter- <br />bedded sandstone and shale between the two seams. To the north of the permit area, the <br />interburden between the "A" and "B" seams may thin out, resulting in a single, thicker "A" <br />seam. <br />Ground Water Hydrology (2.04.5 and 2.04.7) <br />The following four water - bearing stratigraphic units have been identified in the vicinity of the <br />permit area: the alluvium of Hay Gulch (of Recent age); and the Cliffhouse Sandstone, Menefee <br />Formation (sandstone and coal deposits), and Point Lookout Sandstone, all of which are <br />Cretaceous units. <br />The Hay Gulch alluvium consists of unconsolidated and poorly consolidated gravel, sand, silt, <br />and clay that was deposited by stream flow in Hay Gulch during the last several thousand years. <br />The alluvium is several tens of feet thick and approximately 1,000 feet wide. GCC has monitored <br />the Hay Gulch alluvium for more than 30 years in a monitoring well (the Wiltse well) next to the <br />King I Mine. Ground water in the alluvium is unconfined. The alluvium is recharged by <br />snowmelt and precipitation, and by seepage from the Menefee Formation subcrop along the <br />north side of Hay Gulch. The elevation of the water table varies seasonally, ranging from just <br />above the ground surface to a few feet below the surface. Ground water in the alluvium <br />probably flows downstream along Hay Gulch. GCC's annual hydrology reports show ground <br />water in the Hay Gulch alluvium is a magnesium - calcium - sulfate type of water that has a high <br />concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS). TDS concentrations consistently are more than <br />1,500 mg /I, rendering the water unsuitable for domestic and irrigation purposes, but marginally <br />suitable for stock watering. Sulfate concentrations are greater than 600 mg /I. Sulfate <br />concentrations greater than 250 mg /I can cause weight -loss in livestock. There are no known <br />private wells completed in the Hay Gulch alluvium near the permit area, other than a well used <br />by the King I Mine. <br />The Cliffhouse Sandstone is a fine - grained marine sandstone, and is more than 200 feet thick. <br />The mine workings lie approximately 22 feet below the Cliffhouse, in the Menefee Formation. <br />Water supply wells that are located within one mile of the permit area and are probably <br />completed in the Cliffhouse Sandstone include the G. Paulek and L. Paulek wells located in <br />Section 11 and drilled in 1969 and 1979, respectively. A domestic well located in the SE corner <br />of Section 6 (the Shafer well), completed in 1977, may also tap the Cliffhouse unit. This well is <br />located within the southern portion of the permit boundary, and was not under - mined. <br />The Menefee Formation is a fine - grained interbedded sequence of sandstone, siltstone, <br />mudstone, and coal, and is more than 200 feet thick. The operator mines coal from the top of <br />the Menefee. The Grush well is a water supply well located within one mile of the permit area, <br />in the SE corner of Section 7, and is probably completed in the Menefee Formation. <br />The Point Lookout Sandstone is approximately 400 feet in total thickness. The upper unit of the <br />Point Lookout is a massive, medium - grained sandstone approximately 100 feet thick, while the <br />lower member is made up of thin sandstone beds with interbedded shale. Stratigraphically, the <br />Page 5 of 16 <br />