PERMFILE41429

• Permit No: C1980007
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 10/7/2005
• Doc Name: Methane Drainage Wells Project Plan Drill Hole 19-06
• Section_Exhibit Name: Exhibit 80 Drilling Activities - TR102
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Methane Drainage Wells Project Plan
Technical Revision 102; MDW 19-06
Page 3 of 13
Initial geological work, in this area was, completed by W. T. Lee (1912), who reported
his findings in, "Coal Fields of Grand Mesa and the West Elk Mountains, Colorado"
(USGS Bulletin 510). Later in 1948, Ward H. Johnson published a USGS map of the
Paonia Coal Field incorporating drill hole data generated through a USGS and U.S.
Bureau of Mines drilling program. The following yeaz Johnson further described the
geology of the Minnesota Creek area in USBM Technical Paper 721. More recently, in
1989, C. R. Dunrud compiled a coal resources map of the region (USGS Map C-115). In
1998 the Colorado Geological Survey published, "Availability of Coal Resources in
Colorado: Somerset Quadrangle, West-Central Colorado (CGS Resource Series 36)".
The general stratigraphy of the area consists of members of the Mesa Verde Formation of
the Upper Cretaceous System underlying the Wasatch Formation of Tertiary Age. The
Barren Member of the Mesa Verde formation crops out lowest in the area with the
overlying Ohio Creek member exposed along many of the steeper slopes. Above the
Mesa Verde, rocks of the Wasatch Formation are exposed. The Upper and Lower Coal
Members of the Mesa Verde Formation are the major coal-bearing units in the area. The
A (King), B (Somerset), and C (Beaz) coal beds of the Lower Coal Member and the D
(Oliver), E (Hawks Nest), and the F-Seam coal beds of the Upper Coal Member have all
been mined within the North Fork Valley.
General dip in area of the methane drainage project drilling is 3 to 4 degrees to the
northeast. Stratigraphic displacements and faults are known to occur in West Elk Mine.
Known geologic data does not indicate that these faults are locatable on the surface.
WATER RESOURCES
The town of Paonia is situated about 10 miles west of the area and receives an average of
approximately 15 inches of precipitation annually. Given that precipitation increases as
elevation increases, the annual precipitation at the proposed well sites would be expected
to be somewhat higher than that received at Paonia. An estimated 75% of the annual
precipitation occurs during late winter and early spring, mostly as snowfall. June, July,
and August are often the driest months.
Drainage from the well pads for the proposed project primazily enters unnamed tributaries
of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. No riparian, wetland or stream habitat will be
affected by drilling activities. The access road will be constructed in accordance with
CDMG light-use road requirements.
The alternate sediment controls used for the drill pad will consist of a slash, silt fence or
straw wattles placed on the out slopes of the pad. The demonstration that the alternative
sediment control measures meet the limitations of Rule 4.05.2 and 4.05.5 are contained in
the attached SEDCAD results that were run for 0.5-, 1.0- and 2.0-acre typical pad sites.