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• Flows from the springs and seeps were estimated during the site visit. Most of the flows were <br />observed to be less than one or two gpm. The highest spring discharge was estimated to be <br />five gpm. All of the water flow in, or adjacent to, the mine permit area at the time of the <br />study was observed in Goodspring, Taylor, and Wilson Creeks. The springs and seeps <br />occurred at random elevations on the mine permit property and their discharge was consumed <br />by evapotranspiration on the valley sides and on the mine face floor. There was no discharge <br />from the seeps and springs to a natural body of water such as Goodspring or Taylor Creeks. <br />During the investigation for the LRCWE report, the cut made by the Colowyo Mine into the <br />Williams Fork Fotrrtation was estimated to be 450 feet deep. The mine face consisted of a <br />series of steps or benches and exposed many interbeds of sandstones and shales. At no time <br />during the excavation or mining processes was an appreciable quantity of water ever <br />encountered by the Colowyo Mine. In parts of the mine face, where the mining process cut <br />into a sandstone containing water, the water drained from the sandstone onto the mine face or <br />into the mine pit. The discharges of water from these seeps were so small that the water was <br />consumed from the face or the floor of the pit by evaporation. This condition has continued <br />to persist over the past twelve years as the mine advances. <br />The 1979 LRCWE report documented the absence of groundwater on the properly. This <br />report is attached in Exhibit 7, Item 1. <br />Whereas most of the sandstones on the Colowyo Coat Company property are lenticular and <br />interbedded with shales, the Trout Creek Sandstone is a regional geologic unit that can be <br />• mapped across the mine property and regionally. This sandstone occurs approximately 800 <br />feet beneath the lowestmost coals to be surface mined. It is exposed to the surface north of <br />the mine property because of the uplifr in the Axial Basin. The sandstone is 75 feet thick and <br />consists of white, fine-grained and well sorted sand, cemented with calcareous materials. The <br />sandstone is relatively uniform across the area and can be correlated throughout most of <br />northwestern Colorado. <br /> <br />2.04.7-4 Revision Date: 3/21/01 <br />RevisionNo.: TR-Sl <br />