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sodium/bicarbonate down -gradient. Well 3WC displayed the only case of elevated <br />iron levels within the Wolf Creek coal. Well 2WC located down -gradient has the <br />lowest levels of TDS and sulfate, indicating that the sulfate is being precipitated from <br />the water as it moves down gradient. <br />Two wells were established to monitor water levels and quality in the seam within <br />the south extension area, down -gradient of mining areas (4WC and WWC24). Water <br />levels at 4WC are generally over a hundred feet deeper than the adjacent Wadge <br />Coal Well 4W, indicating no hydraulic communication between the two units. 4WC <br />was sampled 1983 to 1985 to establish baseline conditions, and sampling was <br />resumed in 1997 for monitoring purposes. The well displays a MgCa-HCO3SO4 type <br />water with average TDS value of 812 mg/1. Due to safety concerns because of <br />proximity to the highwall, the well was abandoned in 2003. Well WWC24 was <br />drilled in August 2001 but was damaged by a landslide in the spring of 2003, and <br />subsequently abandoned. A replacement well (WWC25) was drilled in the summer <br />of 2004. WWC24 was a flowing well. Initial samples displayed a Na -HCO3 type <br />water with TDS values of 640 and 820 mg/l. <br />Wolf Creek/Wadge Interburden <br />SCC installed one well (3EI) to monitor the interburden within the original permit <br />area. The interburden consists of 165 to 215 feet of interbedded sandstone, shale, <br />siltstone and coal, thus forming a relatively impermeable zone between the <br />underlying Wolf Creek coal and the overlying Wadge coal. <br />Monitoring data for the well were presented in the permit application. Depth -to - <br />water measurements at this well were made for about 22 months. This data not only <br />shows very little seasonal fluctuation, but that the interburden at this site is under <br />unconfined or water table conditions. This is not an expected characteristic because <br />both the Wolf Creek coal and the Wadge coal, at least seasonally, exhibit artesian <br />head at this site. It is possible that this well was not properly completed, or that a <br />perched aquifer was intercepted by the well. SP has subsequently abandoned this <br />well. Based on analysis of the Wolf Creek and Wadge coal, it is expected that water <br />within the interburden, as in the other units, will exhibit confined conditions downdip <br />of the Sage Creek anticlinal axis. <br />No water quality sampling was done in the interburden in the original permit area. <br />Refer to discussion related to Sage Creek overburden and Wolf Creek overburden <br />regarding sampling of strata below the Wadge seam within the south extension area <br />Wolf Creek Overburden/Underburden <br />Wells WWCOV24 (overburden) and WWCU24 (underburden) were drilled in <br />August 2001 in the II -W South area adjacent to the Pond 016A embankment. The <br />wells failed due to a landslide in the spring of 2003 and were subsequently <br />abandoned. Both were flowing wells. Initial OV24 samples displayed a CaMg- <br />13 <br />