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_ __. .. ~_ <br />:°x••hy., . ~ ~Y .. .. -. u - ,,• ^~~'i^.-~IJ'."ti'i.\6'~~f'~t .`l.~ /-r :t.':.'f t.~!:~S:y:i~~•.`•. <br />prnduces typical mountain-valley wind patterns. Winds fmm the west ooarr during most of <br />the day while weaker winds from the east occur at night. <br />Bear Coal Company's air pollution control plan provides for control of fugitive dust by <br />graveling and periodically watering the haul and portal access roads. Bear Coal Co. has <br />installed a water spray system and has enclosed its coal handling facility to seduce fugitive <br />dust. <br />Geoloev -Rules 2.04.5 and 2.04.6(2 <br />Information describing the geology of the permit area is presented in Sections 2.04.5 and <br />2.04.6 of the Bear No. 1 and 2 permit application, and Sections 2.04.5 and 2.04.6 of the <br />Bear No. 3 permit revision application. Additional geological information is presented on <br />the Regional Geology Map (Map 5), Geology Hydrology Map (Map 6), the Geologic Cmss <br />Section (Map 'n, and Drill Hole Logs (P.xhibit 8) of the Bear No.. 3 permit revision <br />application. <br />The mine is within the Paonia Coal Field. The rocks exposed in the Paonia Coal Field <br />consist of the Mancos Shale and the coal-bearing Mesaverde Formation of Upper Cretaceous <br />Age, the Ohio Creek Conglomerate, the Wasatch Formation of Early Tertiary Age, and a . <br />quartz monzonite porphyry of Tertiary Age. (Figure 4) The Mesaverde Formation is of Late <br />Cretaceous Age and conformably overlies the Mancos shale. This formation consists of <br />approximately 2,500 feet of marine and terrestrial sedimentary rncks. The Mesaverde <br />Formation is the coal-bearing formation in the region and is divided into four members. The <br />members in order of decreasing age are the Rollins Sandstone, the Lower Coal Bearing <br />(Bowie) member, the Upper Coal Bearing (Paonia) member, and the Barren <br />(Undifferentiated) member. <br />Three coal seams exist in the Lower Coal Bearing (Bowie) member, the A-Seam (Old King), <br />the B-Seam (Somerset seam), and the C-Seam (Bear). The A-Seam is immediately above the <br />Rollins Sandstone and is not currently mined. The B-Seam contains two coal canes and <br />occurs about 20 to 120 feet above the Rollins Sandstone. This seam is mined at Ure <br />Somerset Mine. The C-Seam occurs 50 to 100 feet above the B-Seam. This seam has been <br />mined at U.S. Steel's Elk Creek Mine (currently the Somerset Mine), and the Bear No. 1 <br />and 2 Mines, and is currently mined at the Bear No. 3 Mine. <br />Three coal seams have been identified in the Upper Coal (Bowie) member: the D-Seam <br />(Oliver), E-Seam (Hawk's Nest), and the F-Seam. The D-Seam occurs directly above the <br />massive sandstone of ilre Lower Coal Bearing member and contains three zones. This seam <br />is currently being mined at the Orchard Valley Mine. The E-Seam occurs about 130 feet <br />above the D-Seam and contains two coal zones. This seam was mined at the Hawk's Nest <br />Mine, and the Blue Ribbon Mine. The E-Seam may be mined at the West Elk Mine and at <br />the Bear No. 3 Mine in the future. The F-Seam contains two coal zones and is only mined <br />at the West Elk Mine. Coal seams of the F horizon do not exist to the north of the North <br />Fork of the Gunnison River in thicknesses sufficient for mining. <br />7 <br />