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level as a result of water leaching, nor increase bicarbonate <br />• levels in nearby streams. <br />Sulfate levels in (1:1) extracts are essentially innocuous <br />by comparison with recent water quality data for the Axial Basin. <br />Indications are that the majority of extracts, I6 out of 14, <br />have <4.4 meq/L of S04 in solution which is the ma:;imum ambient <br />concentration reported for the Yampa River Project. By comparison <br />with later U.S.G.S. data, the extracts have S04 levels about <br />one half that reported. <br />- Phosphates, chlorides and fluorides do not present a <br />potentially hazardous situation for Axial Basin water quality. <br />Nitri`a an :: n<"_at~ sal` _~-~elS are iar~est in extra^_`S _rom <br />the A and B horizon soils (0.020 meq. N/L), then they diminish <br />with increasing depth to approximately 30 feet, where they become <br />undetectable. Soluble nitrogen salts are known to be beneficial <br />to plant grot•~th if not too concentrated. On the basis of present <br />• results, it appears the overburden located between 5 and 30 feet <br />could serve a useful purpose for covering overburden from bed <br />rock strata before replacement of the topsoil for revegetation. <br />Boron and selenium, when present in sufficient amounts <br />in water, are very toxic to animals. Hocaever, the concentrations <br />found in 1:1 water extracts from interburden were either <br />undetectable-- <0.018 meq. B/L and <0.0002 meq. Se/L--are barely <br />exceeded by the detection limits. , <br />1:1 extracts from the overburden dotan to the X coal sea m <br />do not contain. detectable amounts of the radioactive elements <br />uranium, thorium or their daugl2ter products. Hence, radio- <br />activity contamination of local streams by Colowyo mining is <br />not expected to be a problem. <br />• <br />