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Geology <br />The Apex No. 2 Mine is located in the Iles Fornration of the Cretaceous fvlesa Verde Group <br />which lies above [he Tow Creek Sandstone and below the Trout Creek Sandstone. In [he area of <br />the mine, the Trout Creek Sandstone has been entirely eroded away and first outcrops- about 2.~ <br />miles down dip. There are three coal seams in ascending order: Lower Pinnacle, Upper Pinnacle, <br />and Zone 3. The Apex No. 2 Mine and the previous Apex No. [ ivtine are and were developing <br />the Lower Pinnacle coal seam. <br />Horst and graben faulting has divided the permit area into three fault blocks. Each fault block <br />runs to the northwest and the coal dips 10 degrees also to the northwest. During the Permit <br />Renewal No. 1 application, Sunland Mining Corp. decided to forego coal extraction in Fault <br />Block No. 3; therefore, mining occurred only in Fault Blocks Nos. 1 and 2. <br />No acid-or toxic-forming materials were identified in the roof and floor analysis. Water that does <br />come in contact with the roof and floor will be slightly sodium-sulfate in nature. Information <br />pertaining to regional and site-specific geology is presented on pages 24-49 of the permit <br />application. <br />Surface Water Hydrology <br />The permit azea lies on the drainage divide between Trout Creek and Middle Creek. They are <br />both perennial streams which flow in a northeasterly direction into the Yampa River. Trout <br />Creek receives the drainage from the facilities azea and forms the southeast boundary of the <br />disturbed area. The drainage basin for Trout Creek above the mine includes an azea of <br />approximately 33 squaze miles. The runoff from the disturbed azea of 5.6 acres constitutes less <br />than 0.027% of the total flow of the stream. The runoff from the disturbed area is, therefore, <br />insignificant to the flow of the stream. <br />Surface water monitoring sites have been established both upstream and downstream of the mine <br />on Trout Creek. Because of problems encountered with right-to-enter immediately downstream <br />of the mine, Sunland Mining Corp. obtained permission to use monitoring information collected <br />by the Pittsburgh & Midway Coal Mining Company for the Edna Mine (Permit C-80-001), <br />which is located approximately one mile downstream. Downstream surface water monitoring <br />was conducted at the P & M location until 1998 when the site was relocated to a location <br />immediately downstream from the permit boundary through work described in TR-09. <br />During the original permit application review, the Division was concerned with the close <br />proximity of facilities area to Trout Creek. An analysis of the potential for this azea to be flooded <br />was per-formed by Gingery & Associates on behalf of Sunland. The results from this analysis <br />show that even during the 100-yeaz event, the facilities pad will not be flooded since Sunland <br />Mining Corp. previously elevated this azea. <br />Apex No. 2 Mine, C-8I-Ol I 5 Amended December ZI, I998 <br />