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<br />the basin. Foidel Creek Mine is currently the only active underground <br />operation within Twentymile Park. The mine is a longwall operation, using <br />continuous miners for entry and development work only. The underground mains <br />are primarily north-south and the longwall panels are oriented to be mined <br />from west to east. Revision PR-02 increased the permit area to 14,812 acres <br />and the affected area to 6,713 acres. The main surface facilities area along <br />Foidel Creek, the Fieh Creek borehole, and the Fish Creek tipple occupy 338 <br />disturbed acres. Hineral ownership ie 3973 federal acres, 4720 state acres, <br />and 5118 private acres. Surface ownership ie 200 federal acres, 4000 state <br />acres and 10612 private acres. The main mine facilities lie in Sections <br />29,31,32, TSN,R86W of the 6th Principle Meridian. USGS Quadrangle maps of <br />Milner and Rattlesnake Butte cover the majority of the permit area. <br />The proposed permit area lies on the south end of the regionally significant <br />Sand Waeh structural basin. Locally significant are the rock unite of <br />Twentymile Park Basin which dip 5° - 30° toward the central portion of the <br />basin. Normal faulting has been identified throughout the permit area, <br />trending northwest to southeast, with displacement of zero to 85 feet. A <br />reverse fault running in an arcuate line northward through the west central <br />part of the basin shows displacement of 0-80 feet. <br />The near-surface bedrock unite are composed of sedimentary rocks of marine and <br />non-marine origin. These sedimentary rocks were formed through the <br />transgression and regression of an epicontinental sea and are comprised of <br />sequences of sandstones, siltstones, shales and coal. <br />Four geologic formations exist in the vicinity of the proposed Foidel Creek <br />underground mine. They are, in ascending order, the Mancoe Shale, the Iles <br />and Williams Fork of the Meeaverde Group, and the Lewis Shale (see Figures <br />and 4 of this document). These strata were all deposited during the late <br />Cretaceous Period. Generally, the strata dip to the center of the basin at <br />about 7°. <br />Three economically important coal seams, the Lennox, Wadge, and Wolf Creek <br />coals, are located within the locally important, Middle Coal Group of the <br />Williams Fork Formation. The Wadge coal seam will be mined in the Foidel <br />Creek underground mine. The Wadge Coal seam was strip mined in CYCC's <br />adjacent Energy No. 1 and Eckman Park Mines. <br />The Wadge coal seam, in the area of the Foidel Creek Mine, is separated from <br />the underlying Trout Creek sandstone by about 250 feet of interbedded <br />eandetonee, eiltetones, shales and coals. The Wadge coal seam is separated <br />from the overlying Twentymile sandstone by 700 feet of massive shale and <br />interbedded eandetonee, siltetones, shales and coals. Overburden depths in <br />the proposed permit area range from 0 to 1,700 feet (see Map 6 of the permit <br />application). <br />The etratigraphy and geologic structure within the Twentymile Park Synclinal <br />Basin control the ground water flow within the permit and adjacent areas. <br />There are three regional bedrock aquifers within the permit and adjacent areas <br />of the Foidel Creek underground mine. These aquifers are the Trout Creek <br />sandstone, the Twentymile sandstone, and the Wadge coal-overburden zone. All <br />three aquifers exhibit artesian conditions in central portions of Twentymile <br />Park Basin. The quality in all aquifers ie moderately poor and is tolerable <br />for use as a drinking supply. <br />The folding and faulting (geologic structure) within the Twentymile Park <br />Synclinal Basin affects the direction of flow within the rock aquifers. In <br />the permit and adjacent areas, the ground water flow in the bedrock aquifers <br />is down the dip to the northeast into the Twentymile Park Basin. Faults in <br />the area produce localized fracture zones within the rock strata. These zones <br />of increased permeability, in turn, increase the potential for vertical and <br />horizontal movement of ground water within the rock strata. However, to-date <br />