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I. ENGINEERING REPORT <br />General <br />Wyoming Fuel Company (WFC) of Lakewood, Colorado owns and operates the New <br />Elk Mine. WFC purchased the New Elk Mine from CFdci Steel Corporation on December <br />13, 1983. During 1984 WFC constructed a coal wash plant. As a result of this <br />construction, WFC removed an existing sewage treatment plant. WFC is now planning coal <br />production from the New Elk Mine in early 1986. In order to accomodate the waste <br />stream from the bathhouse facilities, WFC must install a new sewage treatment plant. <br />The plant will not treat any industrial wastes from the mine. <br /> <br />WFC has a Colorado Department of Health NPDES Permit; Permit No. CO-000906. <br />Mine water and sediment pond effluent is monitored under this permit. The previous <br />sewage treatment plant was operated by WFC under this permit. Effluent from the new <br />plant will be discharged into the Middle Fork of the Purgatoire River. The river is <br />classified as Recreation Class 2; Aquatic Life Class 1 (cold); Agricultural Use; 1Vater <br />Supply. Low and high flows are shown on Figure 3. <br />The proposed plant will be located in the SW%NEl~ of Section 23, Township 33 South, <br />Range 68 West, in Las Animas County. Figure 1 shows the location of the plant in <br />relation to nearby potable water intakes and river diversion points. As can be seen on this <br />map, the New Elk Mine's potable water intake is to the west of the proposed plant. All <br />potable water used at the mine comes from this point. <br />The plant is to be located outside of the Purgatoire River 100 year flood plain. Core <br />drilling was done by Lincoln-DeVore, Inc. to determine soil characteristics and ground <br />water levels near the plant site. The enclosed .Appendix I shows the results of the drilling. <br />The sewage treatment plant was sized for a maximum of 250 employees. From the <br />field data WFC has collected, the average daily hydraulic flow from the industrial building <br />will be near 8,700 gpd with a majority of this flow from showering facilities. The runoff <br />period is expected to be 16 hours. Organic calculations were based on an average BOD of <br />0.083 Ibs/person and a strength of 340 ppm. <br />-1- <br />