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Application for Technical Revision to MLRB Permit 80-47 <br />Page 5 of 7 <br />a number of locations on the property. It re-enters the ground water system below the <br />Mahogany, which retazds water flow but is not a flow barrier. In the mine, water can be <br />observed migrating downward through the Mahogany zone via natural fractures. <br />Hydraulic fractures created as part of ExxonNlobil's testing might provide additional <br />downward pathways from the Upper to Lower Aquifer, but these will be insignificant <br />compazed to the already existing network of natural fractures. Please note that the coarse <br />ore conveyor tunnel, built in the 1980s, connects the Upper Aquifer through the <br />Mahogany Zone with the Lower Aquifer. <br />The mine entries and mine bench at the Colony Shale Oil Project were selected for this <br />experimental work because the area provides easy access to oil shale. This easy access <br />facilitates monitoring experimental results and also environmental monitoring to prevent <br />any potential impacts. <br />Operational Considerations <br />The Electrofrac experiments planned for the Colony site are a relatively small-scale <br />operation. The operational considerations associated with the experiments are <br />enumerated below. <br />Land Disturbance: No land disturbances outside the already established mine <br />bench are anticipated. Activity will be focused around the two entrances to the <br />commercial mine and will be confined to a relatively small portion of the mine bench. <br />All the equipment and facilities to be used in this area will be temporary and will be <br />removed at the close of the experimental work. The additional water well will be drilled <br />from the existing mine bench. <br />Drilling: The drilling operations associated with these tests are routine for the <br />mining industry. A trnck/skid mounted drilling unit will be set up inside the mine to drill <br />the lateral hole to be fractured. It is expected that the same unit will be used to drill the <br />connector and monitoring holes from inside the mine or on the mine bench. Water for <br />drilling operations will be extracted from surface water on the property utilizing <br />ExxonMobil's existing water rights. The drilling unit will be electrically or pneumatically <br />powered using a power source outside the mine. <br />Water Discharges: The primary water usages associated with these tests will be <br />for drilling and fracturing operations. As described above, this water will come from <br />surface water on the property. Its anticipated that no additives to the water will be <br />required that would prevent it being returned to the surface water system as part of the <br />mine outflow. If it should become necessary to use additives that prevent returning the <br />water to the surface water system, that water will be retained in temporary tanks on the <br />mine bench. Retained water will be evaporated or disposed of off-site. No discharges of <br />water beyond the existing surface water and storm runoff are anticipated. Solid materials <br />recovered from water used in drilling will be disposed of safely, in accordance with any <br />applicable regulations. <br />