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140 acres to the refuse pile area (see TR09-67). Other associated satellite TC support facilities contribute an <br />additional 10 to 15 acres. <br />Surface coal mining has been conducted in the area since the 1960's. The Foidel Creek Mine underground <br />operation was later established in 1983, and has been an on-going operation using a longwall mining process <br />since 1989. This is a form of underground mining where a 1000 foot long wall is mined in a single slice <br />(typically 1-2 m thick). The block of coal being mined, known as the longwall "panel", may be on the order of <br />12,000 feet long. The gate road along one side of the wall is called the main gate, while the other side is called <br />the tail gate. The end of the block that includes the longwall equipment is called the "face". Air is provided by <br />ventilation fans and associated bleeder vent shafts from the surface. The advantage of longwall mining is that <br />over 80 percent of the coal is recovered, compared with about 50 percent for the traditional pillar method. In <br />addition, subsidence is immediate, allowing for better planning by the mining company. The Foidel Creek Mine <br />portals are faced -up in the down dip high -wall of the strip mine. <br />Foidel Creek flows eastward, and is located adjacent to the TC Foidel Creek Mine surface facilities. Foidel Creek <br />receives treated effluent from a series of sediment ponds established at the facility. Mine site drainage is <br />controlled through seven (7) sediment ponds (NPDES Ponds T, B, C, D, E, F, and G — see Figure 2 in Map Pouch <br />at back of report). <br />The Fish Creek drainage is located north of the Foidel Creek Mine surface facilities area and overlies tracts, <br />which have been longwall mined. Fish Creek runs through the Twentymile Park syncline area. Mine water was <br />historically discharged into Fish Creek via the Fish Creek Borehole (FCBH) pump and sodium hydroxide <br />treatment pond facility (discharge site 115), however that practice ceased in early 2005. In 2005, an electro- <br />coagulation treatment system was constructed re -using the FCBH pump. Treated mine water was directed back <br />underground for dust suppression. Electro -coagulation treatment assists in minimizing pipe scaling underground. <br />No discharge to Fish Creek from site 115 occurred in 2015. <br />Mine water is currently dewatered from wells located at the former Fish Creek vent shaft in the old Western <br />Mining District (WMD) and the TORT well located in the old Eastern Mining District (EMD). The wells <br />discharge into the Area 1 Pit. The Pit supplies water to the new Wash Plant. If the Pit overflows, it runs through <br />a flume (site 7) into Pond D. Pond D (site 84) is an NPDES point that discharges to Foidel Creek. <br />Hydrologic monitoring was initiated by CYCC in 1979. TC continues the monitoring program under updated <br />DRMS permit requirements, which is discussed in the next section. <br />The Fish Creek Tipple site is located approximately 15 miles southwest of Steamboat Springs at the northeast end <br />of Twentymile Park, covering an area of approximately 15 acres. The Fish Creek Tipple site was constructed in <br />1974, and ceased operation in 1983. Spoil springs (sites 303-1, 303-2, and 303-3) from the former surface <br />operations at the Fish Creek Tipple site (east of the TC Foidel Creek Mine and Twentymile Park area) also <br />discharge to Fish Creek at NPDES site 62. The area was reclaimed in 2012, at which time sites 303-2 and 303-3 <br />ceased to flow. <br />2 <br />