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• -6 . 2. Description of the Environment The mine site is located at an elevation of approximately 5800 feet. Land use within the permit and adjacent areas is rangeland and wildlife habitat. Pangeland is generally confined to the lower lying canyon bottom lands. The upland area consists of steep slopes and rugged topography and is primarily used by wildlife. Some irrigated agriculture is practiced in the East Salt Creek Valley t.•hich is adjacent to the permit area. ?fcClane Canyon is located in the Roan Cliffs area just Werth of Grand Valley. This area is northeast of the Garmesa Anticline and on the southern flank of the Piceance basin. Local strata dip to the northeast into the Piceance Basin at approximately 2 degrees. The coal to be mined is within a graben which is bounded by two high-angle faults. The ?fount Garfield Formation is the coal bearing formation in the Book Cliffs Coal Field. The ?fount Garfield Fermat ion consists of fine grained and medium grained sandstones and gray shales. The Sego Sandstone underlies the ?Sount Garfield Formation while the Hunter Formation overlies the ?fount Garfield Formation. Included within the Hunter Formation are the massive cliff- forming sandstones which outcrop along the canyon calls of East Salt Creek. The Mount Garfield Formation contain=_ four coal zones; the Loma, Carbonera, Cameo, and Palisade zones. The Cameo seam will be mined at the ?1cClane Canyon ?line. No major bedrock aouifers of regional extent have been identified in the permit and adjacent areas by the applicant. Drilling has indicated that the Cameo coal seam becomes increasingly saturated dog.*n dip from its outcrop in ?ScClane Canyon. The coal seam subcrops in the East Salt Creek alluvium several miles from the mine which is identified as the recharge area for the Cameo seam. Some local lenticular strata of limited extent have been identified above the Cameo seam which contain perched ground water. Alluvial ground water exists within the East Salt Creek alluvium. The East Salt Creek Valleti• contains an intermittent stream channel. ?1cClane Canyon contains an ephemeral channel eahich is tributary to East Salt Creek. The proposed surface disturbance for the 1.1cClane Canyon mine is entirely within the ?ScClane Canyon drainage basin. The climate in the region is semi aria. Pre-.+ailing c.inas at or near ground level at the mine are dictated b}' the orientation of the deeply incised ?fcClane Canyon. The annual average precipitation recorded at Fruita (22 miles southeast of ?ScClane Canyon) is 8.8 inches. The soils mapped in the permit area are well to e:;cessivel}• drained and have formed in alluvial or colluvial sediments. Soils are deepest in the valley bottoms and become shallower along the canyon sideslopes where they intersperse with bare rock. P.11 of the soils are rated good to fair as sources of topsoil for reclamation. Limitations exist for subsoils in the alluvium which demonstrate strongly alkaline pH values.