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24HS-ol through 24HS-03 Wells Project Plan <br />Minor Revision 319 <br />Page 3 of 1 I <br />(USGS Bulletin 510). Later in 1948, Wazd H. Johnson published a USGS map of the <br />Paonia Coal Field incorporating drill hole data generated through a USGS and U.S. <br />Bureau of Mines drilling program. The following year Johnson further described the <br />geology of the Minnesota Creek area in USBM Technical Paper 721. More recently, in <br />1989, C. R. Dunrud compiled a coal resources map of the region (USGS Map C-115). In <br />1998 the Colorado Geological Survey published, "Availability of Coal Resources in <br />Colorado: Somerset Quadrangle, West-Central Colorado (CGS Resource Series 36)". <br />The general stratigraphy of the area consists of members of the Mesa Verde Formation of <br />the Upper Cretaceous System underlying the Wasatch Formation of Tertiary Age. The <br />Barren Member of the Mesa Verde formation crops out lowest in the area with the <br />overlying Ohio Creek member exposed along many of the steeper slopes. Above the <br />Mesa Verde, rocks of the Wasatch Formation are exposed. The Upper and Lower Coal <br />Members of the Mesa Verde Formation are the major coal-beazing units in the azea. The <br />A (King), B (Somerset), and C (Beaz) coal beds of the Lower Coal Member and the D <br />(Oliver), E (Hawks Nest), and the F-Seam coal beds of the Upper Coal Member have all <br />been mined within the North Fork Valley. <br />General dip in azea of the methane drainage project drilling is 3 to 4 degrees to the <br />northeast. Stratigraphic displacements and faults aze known to occur in West Elk Mine. <br />Known geologic data does not indicate that these faults aze locatable on the surface. <br />WATER RESOURCES <br />The town of Paonia is situated about 10 miles west of the area and receives an average of <br />approximately 15 inches of precipitation annually. Given that precipitation increases as <br />elevation increases, the annual precipitation at the proposed well sites would be expected <br />to be somewhat higher than that received at Paonia. An estimated 75% of the annual <br />precipitation occurs during late winter and early spring, mostly as snowfall. June, July, <br />and August are often the driest months. <br />Drainage from the well pads for the proposed project primarily enters unnamed tributaries <br />of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. No riparian, wetland or stream habitat will be <br />affected by drilling activities. The access road will be constructed in accordance with <br />CDMG light-use road requirements. A temporary crossing of Sylvester Gulch will be <br />built (e.g., concrete track pads) to allow crossing of equipment without affecting the <br />normal flow or gradient of the stream or adversely affecting aquatic habitat or related <br />environmental values. <br />The alternate sediment controls used for these drill pads will consist of a slash, silt fence <br />or straw wattles placed on the out slopes of the pads. The demonstrations that the <br />alternative sediment control measures meet the limitations of Rule 4.05.2 and 4.05.5 are <br />contained in the attached SEDCAD results that were run for 0.5-, 1.0- and 2.0-acre typical <br />pad sites. These calculations aze in TR-101 and other previously submitted documents. <br />