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b.. a limited and nomimal resource. Since this resource is limited, • <br />secondary or retreat mining event in the worst case, would not <br />significantly impact the surface water regime in and adjacent to the <br />permit boundary. <br />The essential hydrologic functions of the Apache, Ciruela and <br />Purgatoire Valleys will be preserved. Ttie Purgatoire Valley preservation <br />is based on 50t extraction. Surface water and ground water resources are <br />insignificant in Apache and Ciruela Canyons. As such, the surface water <br />and ground water resources of these canyons do not supply the Purgatoire <br />Valley with significant recharge capacity. Impacts of mining on the <br />hydrologic balance would not be detectable in the short term or long <br />term. <br />Coal Waste Disposal. The New Elk Mine has been in operation since <br />1952. Coal waste was originally dumped along the Middle Fork of the <br />Purgatoire, adjacent to the East Portal. In 1984, Wyoming Fuels <br />commenced a consolidation project to obtain usable coal storage bench <br />space, through the diversion of the Purgatoire. Some coal waste was • <br />placed in the old river channel, and the coal waste pile was restricted <br />to an area west of the main entrance haul road, known as the Development <br />Coal Waste Pile. In late 1987, Wyoming Fuels opened the Refuse Disposal <br />Area north of Highway 12. This site took coal waste generated by the <br />Processing Plant in a covered conveyor across the Middle Fork of the <br />Purgatoire and up the canyon to the top of the pile. In 1994, Basin <br />Resources commenced an operation to recycle the fines stream from the <br />processing plant thickener through the sealed flooded workings of the New <br />Elk Mine. <br />The main hydrologic concerns associated with coal refuse piles are <br />deterioration of alluvial and surface water quality in the alluvium and <br />adjacent surface waters. The predominant hydrologic concerns associated <br />with the processing plant fines recycling process are modifications of <br />the potentiometric surface, and a change in the chemistry of the water <br />(Revised 05/11/94) • <br />2.05-62 <br />