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mining plan approval document, therefore this alternative is <br />not applicable. <br />III. AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT <br />Descriptions of the affected environment within its resource <br />setting are contained within the earlier-prepared documents <br />listed under Part I, Section D of this EA. <br />The environmental resources of the area to be affected by <br />the current proposal are similar to the resources found in <br />the areas described in the documents noted above. These <br />documents are incorporated by reference. The description of <br />the affected environment is summarized below. <br />Topography and Geology <br />The Bear No. 3 Mine is located at the southwestern extremity <br />of the Piceance Creek Basin in the Paonia Coal Field. The <br />coal is mined from the Upper Cretaceous Mesa Verde <br />Formation. The formation is overlain by the Ohio Creek <br />Conglomerate, then the Wasatch Formation of early Tertiary <br />age and Quartz Monzonite porphyry of Tertiary age. The Mesa <br />Verde Formation is underlain by a 2000 to 3000 foot sequence <br />of Mancos shale, a result of the Cretaceous Mancos seas. <br />The coal is mined from the C and B seams of the lower coal <br />member or "Paonia Member" of the Mesa Verde Formation. The <br />lower coal member averages some 270 feet thick and bears <br />three minable coal seams. The strata in the mine area dips <br />from 3 to 5 degrees in a north-northeast direction. The C <br />seam ranges from 4 feet to 9 feet in thickness while the B <br />seam averages around 25 feet thick. The coal is a low <br />sulfur, low ash, moderate BTU, and is classified as a <br />bituminous coal considered excellent for steam and domestic <br />uses. <br />The area is characterized by deeply dissected terrain with <br />steep slopes in the drainage of the North fork of the <br />Gunnison River. Much of the area is overlain with colluvial <br />and deposits from various types of mass wasting including <br />the large landslide in Section 17. The facilities area is <br />on a 500 year flood plain terrace of the North fork of the <br />Gunnison. <br />There are no important fragile lands as defined in 30 CFR <br />762.5 containing natural, ecologic, scientific aesthetic <br />resources, or natural systems in the permit and adjacent <br />areas. <br />4 <br />