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In order to supplement surface water baseline data in the <br />permit area, the following stipulation is included here. <br />Stipulation No.15 <br />THE OPERATOR SHALL MONITOR FLOWS IN SECOND ALKALI CREEK SO AS <br />TO MEASURE MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM FLOWS DURING EACH QUARTER <br />FOLLOWING APPROVAL OF PERMIT REVISION NO.l. DURING THE <br />MONITORING YEAR, AT LEAST ONE GRAB SAMPLE SHALL BE COLLECTED <br />WHEN STREAMFLOW IS PRESENT. THIS SAMPLE SHALL BE SUBMITTED <br />FOR LAB ANALYSIS FOR TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS, TOTAL SUSPENDED <br />SOLIDS, pH, TOTAL DISSOLVED IRON AND MANGANESE. RESULTS OF <br />THESE ANALYSES SHALL BE SUBMITTED TO THE DIVISION WITHIN 60 <br />DAYS FOLLOWING THE END OF THE FIRST MONITORING YEAR WHICH ENDS <br />ON JUNE 30, 1992. <br />Oak Creek, a perennial stream, flows near the loadout. The <br />operator has conducted quarterly monitoring of this creek and <br />continues to do so. There have been no apparent impacts on <br />Oak Creek due to the operation of the loadout. Any surface <br />water drainage from the disturbed area passes through a <br />sediment pond and must meet NPDES effluent limits. There has <br />never been a recorded discharge from either of the loadout <br />ponds. As a result, no impacts to oak Creek are anticipated. <br />Baseline surface water quality in the permit and adjacent <br />areas reflects the effects of previous coal mining activities. <br />Surface water in the mine and loadout areas can be <br />characterized as calcium-carbonate and sodium sulfate types, <br />respectively. Surface water baseline monitoring data provided <br />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 <br />levels of 110-165 mg/1. Iron levels of these samples ranged <br />from 0.1 to 3.64 mg/1. Current beneficial use of surface <br />water in both the mine area and loadout area is limited by <br />upstream diversions. Newlin Creek is diverted by the City of <br />Florence upstream of the mine. Oak Creek is utilized as a <br />primary municipal water source for the town of Rockvale five <br />miles upstream from the loadout area. Therefore, impacts of <br />the mine on beneficial use of water are considered negligible. <br />The only significant change in the surface hydrologic balance <br />since 1980 has been an increase in mine water discharge. Most <br />of the mine inflow is derived from the 1st North Sump area <br />from fractures and connections to overlying abandoned mine <br />workings. The total amount of mine inflow has ranged from as <br />high as 72 acre feet to as low as 49.8 acre feet per year. <br />The total mine water discharge to Magpie Creek has ranged from <br />a high of 26.7 acre feet in 1987 to a low of 4.4 acre feet in <br />1989. Since all mine water is discharged through an NPDES <br />approved discharge point, all effluent limitations are met <br />before discharge. Therefore, the impact to the natural <br />drainage has been considered to be negligible. <br />37 <br />