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<br />Oescriotion of the Environment <br /> <br />The CYCC operations currently permitted under permit C-81-071 are located 20 <br />to 25 miles southwest of Steamboat Springs in Routt County, Colorado. The <br />proposed permit area varies in elevation from 6,600 feet in the eastern <br />portion of the area along Foidel Creek to over 8,200' in the southwestern part <br />of the proposed permit area. The topography is dominated by long gentle <br />slopes formed by uplifted geologic strata, with prominent cliffs occurring <br />where massive sandstone units crop out. Flatter topography resulting from <br />alluvial deposition is evident in the valleys of Fish Creek, Foidel Creek and <br />diddle Creek, which are the major drainages in the permit area. <br />Streams draining the permit area are ultimately tributary to the Yampa River. <br />Fish Creek is a perennial stream which drains the reclaimed Mine 2 in the <br />northern part of the permit area. Middle Creek is an intermittent stream <br />which drains a small part of idine 1 in the eastern part of the permit area, <br />Foidel Creek is an intermittent stream dominated by effluent discharges, which <br />drains the major part of Mine 1 and Eckman Park. Foidel Creek is tributary to <br />Middle Creek. Both Middle Creek and Fish Creek are tributary to Trout Creek, <br />which joins the Yampa River near Milner. The streams draining the permit area <br />have been impacted to varying degrees by CYCC's surface mining operations as <br />well as Twentymile Coal Company's underground mine. <br />Alluvial valley floors have been identified within and downstream of the <br />proposed permit area on Fish Creek, downstream from the proposed permit area <br />on Foidel Creek and Middle Creek, and on Trout Creek from its confluence with <br />Middle Creek downstream to the Yampa River. <br />The proposed permit area lies on the south end of the regionally significant <br />Sand Wash structural basin. Locally significant are the rock units of the <br />Twentymile Park Basin which dip 5° - 30° toward the center of the basin. <br />Normal faulting has been identified throughout the permit area, trending <br />northwest to southeast, with displacement of zero to 85 feet. A reverse fault <br />trending northward through the west central part of the basin displays <br />displacement of 0-80° feet. <br />The geology of the area is composed of sedimentary rocks of marine and <br />non-marine origin. These sedimentary rocks were formed through the <br />transgression and regression of an epicontinental sea and are comprised of <br />sequences of sandstones, siltstones, shales and coal. <br />Four geologic formations exist in the vicinity of the proposed permit area. <br />They are, in ascending order, the Mancos Shale, the Iles and Williams Fork <br />Formations of the i4esaverde Group, and the Lewis Shale (see Figures 3 and 4 of <br />this document). These strata were all deposited during the late Cretaceous <br />Period. The stra*_a dip to the center of the basin, at approximately 7 degrees. <br />Three economically important coal seams, the Lennox, Wedge, and Wolf Creek <br />coals, are located within the locally important, Middle Coal Group of the <br />Williams Fork Formation, The Wedge coal seam has been mined at Mine 1 and <br />Eckman Park and would continue to he mined in Eckman Park. The Fish Creek <br />seam of the Upper Coal Group was extracted at Mine 2. <br />5 <br />