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• As an additional reference, Skogerboe (1979) and others published a report, "Environmental <br />Effects of Western Coal Surface Mining, Part III: The Water Quality of Trout Creek, <br />Colorado," through the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. This report has been copied <br />and is attached to this application in Exhibit 7A. These investigations researched the water <br />quality impacts of surface mining on surface and groundwater at the Pittsburgh and Midway <br />Coal Mine on Trout Creek. Through a carefully documented and conducted program of <br />sampling, the report concluded that: <br />• The impact of mine spoil drainage on the surface water is reflected by larger <br />quantities of dissolved solids and common ions. <br />• The mine has no detectable impact on surface water in terms of increasing <br />concentrations of Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, or Zn. <br />• Increases in stream concentrations of Mn and Se due to mine inflow can be <br />inferred. <br />• Higher concentrations of As, Fe, Mn, Se, and Zn are found in water draining <br />mine spoils. <br />• The concentration of these elements varies with spoil age. Mn and Zn are <br />higher in older spoils and As, Fe, and Se are higher in newer spoils. <br />• Chemical equilibrium calculations indicate that alkaline precipitations can <br />maintain low concentrations of AI, Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Zn. <br />The report further concluded that application of chemical equilibrium equations to the <br />generally alkaline characteristics of western streams and aquifers implies that this <br />precipitation equilibrium limits soluble heavy metal concentrations in groundwater. <br />The work by Skogerboe can, in part, explain why heavy metal concentrations in <br />groundwaters near or adjacent to coal mining operations in northwest Colorado have not been <br />a serious problem. <br /> <br />2.04.7-22 <br />