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seeps must be accounted for and incorporated into the water monitoring plan in <br />accordance with 30 CFR 784.14(h). <br />The survey was conducted to document groundwater discharge that could be affected by the <br />King II Mine operations. GCCE focused on the geologic units immediately above and below the <br />mined "A" coal seam, which is located stratigraphically in the very upper Menefee Formation. <br />Springs or seeps located were documented by handheld GPS and photographed. Field <br />parameters were also recorded for water quantity, temperature, pH, specific conductance, oxygen <br />reduction potential, and dissolved oxygen, and a laboratory analysis was conducted for the <br />GCCE baseline analytical suite approved in the PAP. The survey was conducted in East Alkali <br />Gulch and the lower reaches of its immediate tributaries. It was done as a one-time <br />reconnaissance and data collection event in the spring season (May 30-31 and June 3, 2020) to <br />increase the probability in identifying springs or seeps that may only discharge following winter <br />snowmelt groundwater recharge. <br />Seep-3 was the only seep located in the 2020 spring and seep survey area, with no springs <br />identified during the survey. Seep-3, is the third seep located in the King II Mine area included <br />within both the 2015-2016 and the 2020 spring and seep survey areas along East Alkali Gulch. <br />Water was present below the seep in the pilot channel of East Alkali Gulch for several hundred <br />yards before drying up. Water did not reappear in the approximate half -mile of East Alkali Gulch <br />that was included in this survey which went past the GCC MW-7-EAA and MW-8-EAA <br />monitoring well locations clustered near the proposed low cover crossing and to the federal <br />permit boundary. <br />A total of three seeps have been identified in the study area between 2015 and 2020. A minimum <br />monitoring frequency of twice per year has been carried out for Seep-1 and Seep-2, with a single <br />sample collected from Seep-3 upon discovery during the May 2020 field survey. GCCE is <br />advised that they will have to include Seep 3 in the seep monitoring program as outlined in <br />the PAP. <br />a) Evaluation of compliance with the permit application requirements (30 CFR Parts 777 <br />through 784): <br />30 CFR 784.14(h) specifies the application shall include a ground -water monitoring plan based <br />upon the PHC determination and the analysis of all baseline hydrologic, geologic and other <br />information in the permit application. The plan shall provide for the monitoring of parameters <br />that relate to the suitability of the ground water for current and approved postmining land uses <br />and to the objectives for protection of the hydrologic balance. It shall identify the quantity and <br />quality parameters to be monitored, sampling frequency and site locations. It shall describe how <br />the data may be used to determine the impacts of the operation upon the hydrologic balance. At a <br />minimum, total dissolved solids or specific conductance corrected to 25 °C, pH, total iron, total <br />manganese, and water levels shall be monitored and data submitted to the regulatory authority at <br />least every 3 months for each monitoring location. GCCE's spring and seep survey, in <br />conjunction with the groundwater monitoring already set forth in the permit revision application <br />for the Dunn Ranch LBA, meets the applicable requirements of 30 CFR 784.14(h). <br />