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-4- The rock units exposed in the permit and adjacent areas are all Cretaceous in age. These units include the Lewis Shale, the Pictured Cliffs Sandstone, the Fruitland Formation and the Kirtland Shale. The Carbon Junction Mine was to extract coal from the Lewis coal seam ("C" seam), Carbonero seam ("B" seam) and the Shamrock seam ("A" seam) within the Fruitland Formation. Ground water within the general area of the mine occurs in the Pictured Cliffs Sandstone, the interbedded and lenticular sandstones, and the coals of the Fruitland Formation, the Quaternary terrace deposits, and the alluvium of the Animas River. Ground water movement in the rock strata is controlled by the geologic structure and the stratigraphy. Ground water within sandstone and coal units flows down the dip of the strata and through fracture zones. Bedrock aquifers are recharged at their outcrops and subcrops. These aquifers discharge at lower elevations, primarily in stream valleys. Lenticular and interbedded sandstones support only localized ground water flows. There are no alluvial valley floor deposits within the permit area. The climate of the area is relatively moderate, with a monthly low mean temperature of 25.3oF in January and a monthly high mean temperature of 67.OoF in July. Record temperature extremes range from a high of 99oF, recorded in August, to lows of -27oF, recorded in January and February. Annual precipitation averages 18.04 inches, with a maximum of 2.36 inches in August and a minimum of 0.98 inches in November. The average snowfall is 65.3 inches, with the highest amount in January (21.2 inches), followed by December (14.8 inches). The average wind direction is generally from the west, with an average speed of less than one knot. The soils within the permit area consist of shallow to very deep clays and clay loams, which are suitable as a plant growth medium. About 18 and 12 inches of soil will be replaced in the cropland and rangeland areas, respectively. The permit area consists of a mosaic of pinyon-juniper, mountain shrub, old field and cultivated dryland wheat communities. The mountain shrub community is found primarily on the lower slopes and drainages and is dominated by Gambel's oak. The pinyon-juniper community occurs on higher areas and in lotations with shallow soils. In addition to pinyon pine and Utah juniper, other common shrubs include Utah serviceberry, Gambel's oak, true mountain mahogany, cliff fendlerbush and squawapple. Understory plants are relatively sparse. Dominant shrubs in the old field community are rabbitbrush, broom snakeweed, big sagebrush and true mountain mahogany. The dominant grasses are wheatgrass and a wheatgrass hybrid. There has been no grazing on the site since 1979. The current land uses are dryland wheat farming and wildlife use.