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<br />-19- <br />KA(dh/dl ). The resulting estimate from this data is for a flow of about 1900 <br />gpd (1.3 gpm) through the sandstone towards the river. This indicates that <br />the aquifer is extremely tight and ground water flow towards the White River <br />from the upper sandstone formation within the mine plan area is very limited. <br />The lower sandstone facies is located below the White River alluvium within <br />the mine plan area, and probably does not contribute water to the alluvium. <br />Ground water flow within the Red Wash alluvium is also expected to be <br />limited. A rough estimate of this flow was obtained by the same method as <br />outlined above, resulting in an approximate flow of 29 gpm. <br />In Scullion Gulch, in the southwest section of the lease area, ground water <br />tends to move downward into the siltstone and coal Facies, which is near the <br />ground surface at this location. Measurements in the northern observation <br />wells show upward flow occurring from both the Lower Sandstone Facies and the <br />siltstone and Coal Facies to the overlying zones. In the eastern portion of <br />the lease area, flow is consistently upward from the coal zone and more <br />variable in the lower Sandstone Facies. Artesian pressures may exist below <br />the deeper coal to the north, but are unlikely to be significant within the <br />southern portion of the area to be mined. Over most of the area, water is <br />moving upward out of the coal zone into the Upper Sandstone Facies, these <br />results imply that the coal is more permeable than the Upper Sandstone <br />Facies. These observations of vertical flow, coupled with the more southerly <br />flow of deeper ground water, indicate hydrostatic pressure is being <br />transmitted through the coal, under the axis of the syncline, and into the <br />lease area. <br />Potential Aquifers <br />As a result of the aquifer testing program conducted by Western Fuels, only <br />two potential aquifers have been identified during the course of this field <br />program. One is the massive sandstone in the upper part of the Upper <br />Sandstone Facies in the southwest corner of Section 36. This sandstone is not <br />an aquifer in the normal sense of the word, but is saturated bedrock with low <br />permeability. The depth below the surface to this saturated zone at Well 36-2 <br />is about 135 feet. There are no known uses of the water in this aquifer. At <br />this location, the Upper Sandstone Facies is a thick, massive, fine to medium <br />grained sandstone interbedded with gray siltstone and shale. Transmissivities <br />measured from tests in the hydrology wells located in Section 36 (at Site <br />36-2) ranged from 13 to 74 gpd/ft. As stated previously, a general rule of <br />thumb is that domestic or stock wells should have a specific capacity (a <br />measure of well productivity) of at least 1 gpm/f t. The specific capacity of <br />Well 36-2U is estimated to be less then 1 gpm/f t. <br />The other potential aquifer is the White River alluvium in the vicinity of <br />Wells Qal-3 and WFU-1, located near the bridge across the White River at the <br />entrance of the lease area. The specific capacity within well WFU-1 at a <br />pumping rate of 90 gpm was determined to be 13.9 gpm/ft, indicating definite <br />potential for this portion of the alluvium to be a source of water for use in <br />the mine. Specific capacity of Well Qal-3 at a discharge of 90 gpm determined <br />to be 8 gpm/ft. <br />Ground Water Quality <br />Groundwater quality samples were collected from eleven bedrock wells and four <br />alluvial wells. <br />