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Svstem Descriotion <br />The mine water handling system consists of the following major components: <br />• No. 5 Mine Sump <br />• Boreholes and Overland Pipes <br />• Chemical Treatment System <br />• Settling Ponds <br />• Discharge Ditch <br />All major components of the system are shown on the Structures and Renewable Resources map (Map 25). <br />No. 5 Mine Sump. The No. 5 Mine sump is located in the structurally lowest portion of the No. 5 Mine. All water <br />encountered in the No. 5 Mine is routed to the sump. Boreholes were drilled from the No. 5 Mine to the No. 6 Mine <br />to allow the pumping of water encountered in the No. 6 Mine to the No. 5 Mine Sump. The locations of these holes <br />depend upon water volumes encountered. <br />Boreholes and Overland Pipes. Water from the No. 5 Mine sump is pumped to the surface via two (2) 20 inch <br />boreholes. The boreholes were drilled vertically from the Williams Fork River valley approximately 520 feet to the <br />No. 5 Mine sump. It was anticipated that a chemical treatment system would be needed to treat the mine water <br />discharge but experience has shown [his system is not required. <br />Chemical Treatment System Presently, there is no chemical treatment system but if conditions change, one may be <br />brought into service. <br />• Settling Ponds. A series of three (3) ponds have been constructed on the Williams Fork River floodplain to settle out <br />suspended solids from the raw mine water. Each pond has a capacity of 60,000 cu-ft, which translates into a three (3) <br />hour retention time per pond at design capacity. Based on the system design, only two (2) of the three (3) ponds are <br />in service at a given time. The total retention time is six (6) hours. Operating experience and testing by Nalco <br />indicates this to be a conservative design. A retention time of approximately twenty minutes is adequate for settling. <br /> <br />The ponds are designed to adequately retain and settle suspended solids for a maximum inflow of 2,500 gpm. It has <br />been estimated that the total combine pumping requirements from the No. 5 and No. 6 Mines will be 1300 - IS00 <br />gpm. To date, this volume of water has not been encountered in this mine. Therefore, the ponds are designed to <br />handle all mine water from both the No. 5 and the No. 6 Mines. <br />In addition to the conservative design of the ponds, each pond has two (2) internal baffles. The purpose of the baffles, <br />which are constructed of snow fence, is to broaden the flow through the pond. The baffles have been constructed <br />perpendicular to the direction of Flow. The baffles increase the settling efficiency of each pond by providing a barrier <br />to the total transport of the suspended solids. However, experience has shown that they are not required and they may <br />or may not be retained in a pond. <br />The general flow through the system is as follows: mine water enters on the eastern end of the system, water Flows in <br />a westerly direction through the first pond (PS) ,water enters a pipe on the western end of pond (P5) and enters the <br />eastern end of the second pond (P6) (in this description, ponds PS and P6 are the two functional ponds), water then <br />flows in an easterly direction towards the discharge pipe. Both the inter-pond linkage and the discharge pipe are six <br />(6) feet above the pond bottom. The manipulation of the valves on the inlet, outlets, and inter-pond linkage will allow <br />the water to be directed and discharged from any pond at any time. The general flow schematic for the pond system is <br />presented on Figure 53, Pond Flow Schematic. The general pond system designed is shown on Figure 54, Settling <br />Ponds -Plan View. Presented on Figure 55, Pond Cross-Section A-A' and Figure 56, Pond Cross-Section B-B', are <br />north-south and east-west pond cross-sections. The location of these section lines can be found on the Drainage and <br />Sediment Control Map <br />MidTerm Response <br />(Map <br />26). <br />~~2 <br />2.05-11 ~~~~ Revised 12/05/01 <br />