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April 22, 1999 • ~ Page 1 <br />American Soda, L.L.P. <br />Yankee Gulch Sodium Minerals Project <br />GROUNDWATER AND SURFACE WATER MONITORING PLAN <br />FOR THE YANKEE GULCH SODIUM MINERALS PROJECT <br />1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />The monitoring plan for the American Soda, L.L.P. (American Soda) Yankee Gulch Sodium <br />Minerals Project applies to the first phase (l}-5 yeazs) of commercial mining. This monitoring plan <br />has been prepared in support of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project, for <br />submittal to the U. S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as documentation of the monitoring <br />program American Soda intends to implement during commercial solution mining operations. <br />The monitoring plan includes groundwater and surface water monitoring for the Yankee <br />Gulch Lease site (solution well field and upper plant) and the Pazachute Creek site (lower plant). <br />The objective of the groundwater and surface water monitoring plan is to establish <br />recognizable trends in water quality such that any deviation from the established chazacteristics is <br />recognizable. Established trends will be developed over a 13-month period, prior to startup of <br />commercial operations. This will be accomplished by water level measurements and water quality <br />analyses (monitoring) of a network of groundwater wells, surface water stations, and production <br />facilities. <br />Baseline monitoring will commence by September 1999. The baseline monitoring schedule <br />for groundwater monitoring wells includes monthly water level and water quality monitoring for a <br />] 3-month (5 quarters) period. Piceance Creek will be monitored in accordance with the current U. S. <br />Geological Survey (USGS) monitoring schedule. Parachute Creek will also be monitored (USGS <br />monitoring of Parachute Creek has not been conducted for over 10 years). Spring and seep surveys <br />and monitoring (if applicable) will be conducted twice per year, corresponding to high flow (spring) <br />and low flow (fall) conditions for the baseline period and during solution mining operations. <br />Agapito Associates, Inc. <br />