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<br /> <br />In order to supplement surface water baseline data in the permit area, <br />the following stipulation in included here. <br />Stipulation No. 15 <br />THE OPERATOR SHALL MONITOR FLOWS IN SECOND ALKALI CREEK SO AS TO MEASURE <br />MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM FLOWS DURING EACH QUARTER FOLLOWING APPROVAL OF <br />PERMIT REVISION N0. 1. DURING THE MONITORING YEAR, AT LEAST ONE GRAB <br />SAMPLE SHALL BE COLLECTED WHEN STREAMFLOW IS PRESENT. THIS SAMPLE SHALL <br />BE SUBMITTED FOR LAB ANALYSIS FOR TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS, TOTAL <br />SUSPENDED SOLIDS, pH, TOTAL DISSOLVED IRON AND MANGANESE. RESULTS OF <br />THESE ANALYSES SHALL BE SUBMITTED TO THE DIVISION WITHIN 60 DAYS <br />FOLLOWING THE END OF THE FIRST MONITORING YEAR WHICH ENDS ON JUNE 30, <br />1992. <br />Oak Creek, a perennial stream, flows near the load-out. The operator has <br />conducted quarterly monitoring of this creek and continues to do so. <br />There have been no apparent impacts on Oak Creek due to the operation of <br />the load-out. Any surface water drainage from the disturbed area passes <br />through a sediment pond and must meet NPDES effluent limits. There has <br />never been a recorded discharge from either of the load-out ponds. As a <br />result, no impacts to Oak Creek are anticipated. <br />Baseline surface water quality in the permit and adjacent areas reflects <br />the effects of previous coal mining activities. Surface water in the <br />mine and load-out areas can be characterized as calcium-carbonate and <br />sodium-sulfate types, respectively. Surface water baseline monitoring <br />data provided by the operator shows high levels of both TSS and TDS and <br />elevated concentrations of iron. Water samples collected from <br />Newlin Creek in 1983-84 had TSS levels of 4-16 mg/1 and TDS levels of <br />110-165 mg/1. Iron levels of these samples ranged from 0.1 to <br />3.64 mg/1. Current beneficial use of surface water in both the mine area <br />and load-out area is limited by upstream diversion. Newlin Creek is <br />diverted by the City of Florence upstream of the mine. Oak Creek is <br />utilized as the primary municipal water source for the town of Rockvale <br />five miles upstream from the load-out area. Therefore, impacts of the <br />mine on beneficial use of water are considered to be negligible. The <br />only significant change in the surface hydrologic balance since 1980 has <br />been a increase in mine water discharge. Most of the mine inflow is <br />derived from the 1st North Sump area from fractures and connections to <br />overlying abandoned mine workings. The total amount of mine inflow has <br />ranged from as high as 72 acre feet to as low as 49.8 acre feet per <br />year. The total mine water discharge to Magpie Creek has ranged from a <br />high of 26.7 acre feet to 1987 to 4.4 acre feet in 1989. Since all mine <br />water is discharged through an NPDES approved discharge point, all <br />effluent limitations are met before discharge. Therefore the impact to <br />the natural drainage has been considered to be negligible. <br />-16- <br />