REV07929 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

West Elk Mine land in question must meet specific requirements pertaining to vegetation, soils and hydrology. As of Mazch 1995, the criteria for these three pazameters were being closely reviewed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and a technical committee of the National Science Foundation. As noted above, if a party intends to dredge and/orflll in a regulatory wetland, a 404 permit must be acquired in advance of the activity. Note that the regulatory "trigger" is dredging and/orflling. No such activifies aze proposed in the Apache Rocks,Box Canyon, or South of Divide permit revision areas. To ascertain whether potential wetlands impacts caused by mining-induced subsidence would be regulated under Section 404, MCC representatives met with staff from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE), Grand Junction office in September 1994. In this meeting, USAGE staff indicated that, at West Elk Mine, wetlands impacts as a conseguence of subsidence would not be regulated. In addition, due to the many reasons presented above regazding the general lack of impacts to streams, spring/seeps and groundwater, it is unlikely that the wetlands in the South of Divide permit revision area will be significantly affected by the mining. Water Rights Back rg ound This section discusses the potential effects on vested water rights that may be caused by MCC's longwall mining operation, and the associated subsidence in the pemut azea. The location of the South of Divide pemut revision azeas aze shown on Map IA. Related impacts include inflows from faults and storing water in underground sumps. All of these topics are addressed herein. The water rights analysis has been prepared by WWE with over 40 years of experience in this subject. WWE recommends that readers review the next major section of this report Mine Water System for background to facilitate an understanding of water management at the mine, and associated water rights implications. The proposed longwall mining operation within the current permit and South of Divide permit revision area could potentially affect water supplies and water rights in the Dry Fork and North Fork drainages. Each drainage and its accompanying water rights that could potentially be affected by subsidence aze discussed below. Following this discussion is an evaluation of the water rights aspects of the sealed panels sumps, fault inflows, and MCC's North Fork diversions. In the following analysis, the term "depletion" is calculated as diversions minus return flows. Drv Fork Drainage MCC has a comprehensive decreed water augmentation plan (86CW38) in place to mitigate the possible mining related depletions to Minnesota Creek and its tributaries. Over 60 percent of the South of Divide permit revision area mining is planned in the Dry Fork basin, a tributary to Minnesota Creek which, in turn, is tributary to the North Fork neaz Paonia. No portion of the Box 1.03.173 Revised June 2003 PRIO