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1 <br />• <br />• <br />IX. Probable Hydrologic Consequences and Cumulative Impacts Assessment <br />-Rules 2.05.6(3) and 2.07.6(2)(c) (cont'd) <br />Salt Creek Mining Company also has applied for a permit to mine in Munger <br />Canyon, (see Mined Land Reclamation File HC-020-81) one mile south of <br />McClane Canyon. The mine is an underground mine with the face up and <br />facilities in a canyon at the headwaters of a tributory to Munger Canyon. <br />The face up is located approximately two miles from the intersection of <br />Munger Canyon and East Salt Creek Canyon. <br />~~c'+/~!~~jJ,/~.;/.~y '- l <br />'•,.:f ~f <br />~~~ <br />The Munger Canyon Mine will also effect the quantity and quality of surface <br />water in East Salt Creek. This effect would occur as a result of the surface <br />disturbance at the mine and the impact this disturbance will have on runoff <br />and surface flow in Munger Canyon. <br />The total surface disturbance created by the operation which will be contained <br />within a sedimentation system is approximately 7.5 acres. This accounts for <br />less than two thousandths of a percent of the area contained within the <br />Munger Canyon drainage (5,085), and one ten-thousandth of a percent of the <br />total drainage area of East Salt Creek above the confluence with Munger Canyon <br />(67,228 acres). Both Munger and McClane Canyons (10.5 acres) will only <br />affect two ten-thousands of a percent of the drainage area of East Salt <br />Creek. <br />As indicated, the combined, or cumulative, impact on flow in East Salt <br />Creek as a result of the operations at McClane and Munger Canyons will be <br />relatively insignificant. A11 flow occurring outside of the disturbances <br />will be routed around them and returned to the drainage. Runoff produced <br />from the disturbed areas will be contained in sedimentation ponds for a <br />sufficient enough time to meet NPDES and Mined Land Reclamation effluent <br />standards, and will then be released into the drainage. <br />For the same reasons water quality in East Salt Creek will be minimally <br />affected. Because the surface disturbance will consist primarily of road <br />and portal development most of the impact will consist of an increase in <br />suspended sediment concentrations. The sedimentation ponds are designed <br />to reduce the sediment concentration to acceptable levels before release <br />into the streams. <br />No waste disposal areas will be developed for the McClane Canyon operation. <br />There is a waste disposal area planned for Munger Canyon. The material to <br />be disposed of has not been completely analysed. Prior to the development <br />of the waste pile the material to be disposed of will be completely analyzed <br />to determine whether any special handling or remedial treatment will be <br />necessary. If chemical elements are detected at concentrations which, upon <br />contact with surface runoff, could degrade the quality of the water the <br />special handling or remedial treatment measures would prevent or minimize <br />such an impact. <br />The Munger Canyon operation will mine the same coal zone as the McClane <br />Canyon Mine. In the Munger Canyon Mine, for the first permit term, develop- <br />r~nt is not projected into the saturated area which has been inferred within <br />the zone. Neither mine will have a significant effect on the nature of ground <br />water in the mined zone during the first permit term. There should be no <br />cumulative effect on any aquifers of regional extent as a result of mining <br />at these locations. <br />