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C. Sedimentation Ponds <br />Seneca Coal Company will primarily use sediment ponds to prevent <br />additional contributions of sediment to streamflow or runoff outside the <br />permit area due to mining disturbance. Existing sediment ponds include <br />005, 006 and 009. Information regarding design of ponds and diversions is <br />provided in Tab 13 of the permit application. <br />Pond 005 was permitted as a permanent impoundment that treats runoff <br />from 285.6 disturbed acres which drain to Dry Creek. <br />Pond 006 was permitted as a permanent impoundment that is located in a <br />watershed that is tributary to Hubberson Gulch. Phase I construction of the <br />pond was completed in 1989. Phase II consisted of modifying the existing <br />principal spillway to increase the storage capacity of the pond. Phase III <br />included construction of a clean water diversion ditch that will divert 102.6 <br />acres of undisturbed area into the drainage to the west. <br />Pond 009, a temporary sediment pond, treats runoff from the smaller <br />disturbed area which drains to Sage Creek,roughly a 439 acre watershed. <br />Construction of the pond was completed in 1991. The watershed is <br />approximately 73% undisturbed and 27% disturbed. <br />The three sediment ponds described above will treat all disturbed area <br />drainage with the exception of certain existing and proposed topsoil <br />stockpiles depicted on Exhibits 13-2 and 13-3 and listed in Attachment 13-8. <br />Sedimentation from these stockpile areas will be controlled by sediment <br />traps designed to totally contain the runoff from a 10 year/24 hour storm <br />event. The Division specifically grants exemption from the sediment pond <br />requirement of the topsoil stockpiles listed in Attachment 13-8. The small <br />area exemption is granted based on conformance with the requirements of <br />Rule 4.05.2(3)(a) and (b). <br />D. Acid-forming and Toxic-forming Spoil <br />The applicant has submitted detailed analysis of the geochemical <br />characteristics of the overburden and interburden found in the Seneca II-W <br />Mine permit area. The sampled parameters were agreed upon by the <br />Division, OSM and Seneca Coal Company during meetings held in 1980 and <br />1981. Parameters sampled are listed in the permit application Volume 2, <br />Tab 6. The permit application states that these parameters were used to, <br />"document the physical and chemical properties of the overburden and <br />underburden, to compare these properties to ground water quality, and to <br />determine potential reclamation success:' <br />The data obtained from the geochemical analyses were compared to criteria <br />derived from State and Federal agencies (USDA, BLM, Wyoming DEQ, <br />17 <br />