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Whirlwind Mine Groundwater Characterization Report <br /> Lumsden Canyon has been sampled for water chemistry at several locations by different <br /> investigators. Data compiled by EFR for the mine permit show that the BLM sampled Lumsden <br /> Canyon in 1996 and 1997, a total of four events. The sampled location was within the <br /> streambed approximately 1.5 miles upstream of the mouth of the canyon. These data show that <br /> uranium and radium-226 exceeded state water quality standards in three of the four sampling <br /> events. Uranium exceeded the domestic groundwater standard (0.03 mg/L)with concentrations <br /> ranging from 0.185 to 0.448 mg/L, and that radium-226 exceeded 5 pCi/L, ranging from 5.2 to <br /> 6 pCi/L; no combined radium-226/radium-228 was reported. <br /> In addition, two samples collected at"Lumsden Canyon Mouth" (at the mouth of the canyon) in <br /> June and December 2008, also exceeded selenium and uranium state water quality standards. <br /> The selenium concentrations were 0.085 and 0.07 mg/L, for the June and December events, <br /> respectively, and the uranium concentrations were 0.194 and 0.201 mg/L, for the June and <br /> December events, respectively. Data results for the Lumsden Canyon samples are shown in <br /> Appendix A. <br /> 6.0 INTERPRETATION <br /> Interpretation of the hydrologic processes present at Whirlwind Mine focuses on the key <br /> hydrologic observations related to surface water and groundwater occurrence and water <br /> chemistry. The following section, Section 7.0 Hydrogeologic Conceptual Model expands the <br /> interpretive perspective by presenting a site-wide understanding of hydrological processes. <br /> 6.1 Surface Hydrology <br /> As previously described in Section 4.1, Lumsden Canyon, the main drainage that would accept <br /> runoff and discharge from the Whirlwind Mine area is considered ephemeral even though a few <br /> water sources, namely DP Spring and PR Spring, contribute small amounts of flow to the <br /> canyon; this water travels a short distance before infiltrating into the streambed where alluvium <br /> is present. Other shows of water in the canyon included a diffuse seep at the base of the <br /> Wingate Sandstone and pooled water near the mouth of the canyon. Based on the laboratory <br /> analysis detailed in Section 5.2.4, there is no broad evidence of groundwater discharge from the <br /> identified hydrostratigraphic units of the project area contributing to surface stream flow. <br /> Western Water& Land, Inc. 34 <br />