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Mayo and Associates, LC <br />. • <br />I' • <br />• <br />2. INTRODUCTION <br />Mountain Coal Company (MCC) encountered appreciable, fault-related, groundwater <br />inflows during B Seam mining activities in West Elk Mine. The water from the inflows, <br />which was stored in fractured sandstone bodies in the Rollins Sandstone that underlie the <br />B Seam, discharged from the mine floor when tectonic faults were crossed during mine <br />development work (Mayo and Associates, 1998, 2004; Mayo and Koontz, 2000). <br />In 2004 Mountain Coal Company anticipates initiating longwall mining in the E Seam <br />reserve. The E Seam reserve has not been previously mined at West Elk Mine, however, <br />surface exploration boreholes have been used to evaluate the chazacter of the reserve. <br />The borehole exploration program did not provide duect information regazding the <br />potential for groundwater inflows. Because direct groundwater information from the E <br />Seam is not available, potential groundwater inflows can only be evaluated by inference <br />from groundwater inflows at West Elk Mine and elsewhere in the Wasatch Plateau and <br />Book Cliffs, Utah, where similar geologic and hydrogeologic conditions occur. <br />The purpose of this investigation is to identify surface or groundwater resources that pose <br />a risk to successful mining of the E Seam reserve. Potential water sources include <br />surface reservoirs, streams, tectonic faults, sandstone channels, massive sandstones, and <br />igneous intrusions. The area of interest encompasses approximately 16,200 acres and <br />includes MCC federal coal lease C-1362, Dry Fork LBA area, Sunset Trail Exploration <br />azea, and MGFCO fee lease area. <br />Evaluation of Potential Groundwater Inflows <br />Associated with E Seam Mining, <br />West Elk Mine, Somerset, Colorado <br />February 24, 2004 <br />