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• FINDINGS Bear Coal Company's Application for Mining and Reclamation Plan and Reclamation for Bear ~1, ~2 and ~3 mines Upon review of the mining and reclamation plan submitted November 12, 1981 and updated through March, 1982, I find that: 1. The plan and the permit application is accurate and complete and all requirements of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (the "Act"), the Colorado State Program, and the Federal Lands Program, including the Min- eral Leasing Act, have been complied with (See Technical Analysis [TA] [2.07.6(2)(a), 786.19(a)]. 2. The applicant has demonstrated that coal mining and reclamation operations, as required by the Act, the Colorado State Program, and the Federal Lands Program, can be feasibly accomplished under the mining and reclamation operations plan contained in the application (see TA) 3. The assessment of the probable cumulative impacts of all anticipated coal mining in the general area of the operations on the hydrologic balance has been made by Office of Surface Mining and the Colorado Mined Lands Recla- mation Division. The assessment included the Orchard Valley, Blue Ribbon, • Somerset, Hawkes Nest, Mt. Gunnison and Bear mines. The rejuvenation of the Old Edwards Mine into the Bear ~3 Mine will have an insignificant effect on the probable hydrologic balance in the permit area re-_ suiting in an almost nonexistent effect on the cumulative probable hydrologic impact of all anticipated mining in the area. OSM reached this conclusion by considering the following evidence: a) Bear ~3 mine will mine in the upper Cretaceous, Mesaverde Formation, Lower Coal Member "C" seam. This seam has a formidable sandstone bar- rier above it that has a thickness of about 150 feet. This sandstone, as evidenced by previous mining in the immediate area in the "C" seam, acts as a hydrologic barrier for the "C" seam mines. Historically the "C" seam mines that mine up dip have been unusually dry with water re- quired for mining needing to be pumped in. Two examples of this dry- ness are the Bear t~l mine and the old workings of the proposed Bear ~3 Mine 1/4 mile downstream. Both are outcrop mines on the same site of the river channel and mined in the "C" seam. Both are exceptionally dry even in the areas where pillar supports were pulled and roof cracking could be expected to occur. The only water that has been encountered is occasional occurrences of "fossil" or "insite" water in the coal released by mining and quickly dries up. The "C seam" is not considered to be an aquifer. b) The "C" seam outcrop at the proposed Bear ~3 Mine is in the cliff area about 140 ft above the North Fork stream channel (stream is immediate- ly north of the mine area) and the "C" seam has a stratigraphic dip • that ranges from 3-5 degrees to the north-northeast. The existing portals of the proposed Bear ~3 Mine (the old Edwards Mine portals)