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in Volume 9B. The State Historical Preservation Officer reviewed the 1983 application/permit revision <br />and the 1986 permit revision and has determined that there are no sites within the permit azea currently <br />listed in the National Register of Historic Places. <br />Surveys classified seven of these sites as eligible for the National Register pending further investigation. <br />None of the seven is going to be disturbed by development activities, and none will be undermined. The <br />Roatcap Game Trail Site (SDT 271) was excavated in late 1986 to ensure that increased access in the East <br />Roatcap drainage would not result in vandalism. Several of the other sites have a very limited potential for <br />subsidence damage, as they are found on the margins of the angle of draw. <br />Climatological Information and Air Resources -Rules 2.04.8, 2.05.4(2)(h), 2.05.6(1), 4.17 <br />Climatological documentation is presented on pages 58-66, Section 2.04 of Volume 1 and in the <br />Climatology and Wind Direction Appendix, Volume 9. BRL has also provided copies of all emissions <br />permits from the Colorado Department of Health in Volume 9. Evaporation pan monitoring data are <br />summarized in the Annual Hydrology Reports. Climatological data for the North Fork region is available <br />from Paonia, three (3) miles due south and 1,500 feet lower in elevation than the mine site. The average <br />annual temperature is 49.ONF at Paonia, with an average monthly mean of 24.SNF in January and 71.9NF <br />in July. At Paonia, the annual precipitation is 8 to 15 inches. <br />The local climate of the North Fork area is strongly influenced by microclimatic features -slope aspect, <br />elevation, soil type, soil moisture content and vegetation. The steepness of the terrain, together with the <br />type and amount of vegetation, orientation and range of elevation, are the major controls of the diurnal <br />wind patterns. The shape and orientation of the North Fork valley is such that the drainage (or katabatic) <br />flow is the dominant flow for most hours of the day. Prevailing winds are from the south-southeast, with <br />wind speeds often (10) miles per hour occurring in June. Below Paonia, the wind speed appears to <br />decrease sharply as the air spreads over the lower valley. Because of this strong drainage wind, frost <br />pockets are not allowed to form, thus creating a favorable microclimate for fruit tree farming. <br />Geoloev -Rules 2.04.5 and 2.04.6(21 <br />Information on local and regional geology can be found on pages I S to 26 of Section 2.04.6 of Volume 1. <br />Maps 2-1, 2-2, 2-7, 2-8, 2-11, 2-12 and 6A-8 identify pertinent geologic features. Waste rock geochemical <br />analyses can be found in Volume 6A. <br />BRL has mined the D seam of the Upper Coal member of the Mesaverde Formation. The seam ranges in <br />thickness from 2 to 21 feet in the permit area, with one split ranging in thickness from I S I/2 feet to <br />several inches. The coal dips 4N to 7N to the northeast. Two high-angle, normal fault zones are found in <br />the area with displacement ranging between I and 50 feet (Map 2-8). The earliest fault system trends <br />N65NE and dips 70N to 80N with displacements of 2 to 6 feet. The other fault system trends N35NW and <br />dip 70N to 80N to the northeast. The geology is further modified in the northeast corner of Lease C-37210 <br />where coked coal gives evidence of igneous activity associated with the Miocene Iron Point pluton. <br />The Somerset Coal Field lies on the southeast margin of the Piceance Basin and just south of Grand Mesa. <br />The sedimentary strata exposed in the Somerset Coal Field dip at 3N to SN to the north and northeast, and <br />range in age from late Cretaceous to early Tertiary. <br />Coal is produced from the Mesaverde Formation, a 2500-foot-thick sequence of sandstone, shale and coals <br />overlain by the Ohio Creek conglomerate and underlain by the Mancos Shale (Figure 2). The Mesaverde <br />Formation is composed of four members, which are, in order of decreasing age, the Rollins Sandstone, the <br />Lower and Upper Coal members and the Barren member. <br />10 <br />