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Methane Drainage Wells Project Plan <br />Technical Revision ]Ol; Holes 19-09, 19-]0 and 19-11 <br />Page 3 of 14 <br />Initial geological work, in this area was, completed by W, T. Lee (1912), who reported <br />his findings in, "Coal Fields of Grand Mesa and the West Elk Mountains, Colorado" <br />(USGS Bulletin 510). Later in 1948, Ward H. Johnson published a USGS map of the <br />Paonia Coal Field incorporating drill hole data generated through a USGS and U.S. <br />Bureau of Mines drilling program. The following year Johnson further described the <br />geology of the Minnesota Creek azea in USBM Technical Paper 721. More recently, in <br />1989, C. R. Dunrud compiled a coal resources map of the region (USGS Map C-115). In <br />1998 the Colorado Geological Survey published, "Availability of Coal Resources in <br />Colorado: Somerset Quadrangle, West-Central Colorado (CGS Resource Series 36)". <br />The general stratigraphy of the azea consists of members of the Mesa Verde Formation of <br />the Upper Cretaceous System underlying the Wasatch Formation of Tertiary Age. The <br />Barren Member of the Mesa Verde formation crops out lowest in the area with the <br />overlying Ohio Creek member exposed along many of the steeper slopes. Above the <br />Mesa Verde, rocks of the Wasatch Formation are exposed. The Upper and Lower Coal <br />Members of the Mesa Verde Formation are the major coal-bearing units in the area. The <br />A (King), B (Somerset), and C (Bear) coal beds of the Lower Coal Member and the D <br />(Oliver), E (Hawks Nest), and the F-Seam coal beds of the Upper Coal Member have all <br />been mined within the North Fork Valley. <br />General dip in area of the methane drainage project drilling is 3 to 4 degrees to the <br />northeast. Stratigraphic displacements and faults aze known to occur in West Elk Mine. <br />Known geologic data does not indicate that these faults are locatable on the surface. <br />WATER RESOURCES <br />The town of Paonia is situated about 10 miles west of the azea and receives an average of <br />approximately 15 inches of precipitation annually. Given that precipitation increases as <br />elevation increases, the annual precipitation at the proposed well sites would be expected <br />to be somewhat higher than that received at Paonia. An estimated 75% of the annual <br />precipitation occurs during late winter and early spring, mostly as snowfall. June, Jnly, <br />and August are often the driest months. <br />Drainage from the well pads for the proposed project primarily enters unnamed tributaries <br />of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. No riparian, wetland or stream habitat will be <br />affected by drilling activities. The access road will be constructed in accordance with <br />CDMG light-use road requirements. A temporary crossing of Sylvester Gulch will be <br />built (e.g., concrete track pads) to allow crossing of equipment without affecting the <br />normal flow or gradient of the stream or adversely affecting aquatic habitat or related <br />environmental values. <br />The alternate sediment controls used for these drill pads will consist of a slash, silt fence <br />or straw wattles placed on the out slopes of the pads. The demonstrations that the <br />