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Section 780.21 (c) Continued. <br />Rule 2.05.6 <br />Revised 12/3/80 <br />try will also be collected and reported in the annual monitoring <br />reports. <br />A detailed study of the changes in ion balance caused by m;n;ng <br />activities in Nortlnaest Colorado has been published (Skogerboe, et. <br />al., Jan. 1979, Environmental Effects of Western Coal Surface Mining, <br />Part III - The Water Quality of Trout Creek, Colorado, EPA-600/3-79- <br />008). This report states conclusions very similar to those reached <br />in this Section regarding crater chemistry, based on a considerable <br />data rarorri. According to this study, the change in ion balance of <br />runoff fran mined areas is a long-term effect in the imnecliate vi- <br />cinity of the mine. Dilution of effluent in the receiving stream <br />• dac~ens the effect downstream from active mining areas. In no event <br />i will changes ish the ion balance of surface water result in element <br />concentrations toxic to aquatic biota. <br />The study of ion balance at the Edna Mine in Routt County, Colorado <br />(Skogerboe, et. al., 1979) is representative of conditions at the <br />Kerr Mine in Jackson County, Colorado. The geology of the two sites <br />is similar (upper Cretaceous age, sub-bituminous coal overlain by <br />alkaline, fine-grained shales and sandstones), and the chemistry <br />of baseline water is similar (alkaline, mxlerately saline, calcitun <br />- bicarbonate type) at both sites. Processes which cause chemical <br />charge (snowmelt, evaporation, weathering, leaching of soluable <br />salts) are identical at both sites. <br />780-126 iiiii <br />