Laserfiche WebLink
6.4.7 EXHIBIT G—Water Information <br /> The mine operator contends that this operation will not directly affect surface or groundwater systems. <br /> Justifications for this statement are as follows: <br /> 1) The original permit area of 54 acres includes 10 acres of un-disturbed land located immediately <br /> east of the centerline of Eight Mile Creek. The seasonal flowing drainage channel is isolated <br /> from the main haul road area and remainder of the mining property by an earth berm that runs <br /> North-South along the entire length of the permit area effectively separating all affected land <br /> from the adjacent stream channel. No stream water enters the affected land and no surface <br /> flow from affected land enters the Eight Mile Creek drainage prior to collection of all surface <br /> run-off in sediment pond located in the southern end of the original permit area. This sediment <br /> pond has operated for the past forty years as designed, collecting all surface run-off and <br /> sediment carried by it in the pond and allowing for percolation of the run-off collected over a 72 <br /> period following any event that may result in surface run-off from roads, stockpile and mining <br /> areas. A weir is installed near the top of the sediment pond berm to deliver a controlled release <br /> of water from the pond to the local drainage system should it ever top the sediment pond <br /> storage maximum,about 2 acre feet of water. This has not occurred over the past forty years of <br /> mine operation. Additional sediment ponds of similar characteristics are planned to be <br /> constructed immediately up gradient of the existing pond as disturbed mining acreage increases <br /> over time, projected to be appropriate near the completion of phase one and phase three of <br /> mine plan. The drainage and sediment control plan is designed to collect, decant,and deliver all <br /> access surface flow into Eight Mile Creek drainage with no water quality impacts when the <br /> water is delivered to Eight Mile Creek through percolation. During times when intense rainfall <br /> or rare snowmelt events may result in enough water delivered to fill the sediment pond,the <br /> release after settling would most likely reflect a lower level of turbidity than that of water <br /> flowing in Eight Mile Creek at that point in time. <br /> 2) The gravel deposit is underlain by a thick shale unit that inhibits downward migration of <br /> meteoric water. Ground water systems underlying or near surface are not expressed anywhere <br /> within the permit boundary such as springs, seeps, or wet areas encountered during mining. No <br /> water wells have been drilled to date within the affected land boundaries. <br /> Referencing records of surface water ownership upstream of the affected land and water well <br /> data from Sections 22, 23, and 27 show no water well static levels at or near surface elevations <br /> within the mine. These records were submitted as part of the original permit conversion <br /> application and are available for review on the DRMS public records Laserfiche files. <br />