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GOB VENT / DE-GAS BOREHOLES PROJECT PLAN <br />(September 11, 2001) <br />PROJECT DESCRIPTION <br />The proposed project consists of drilling gob vent /degas boreholes for Longwall Panel <br />15, in an area which is generally located 7 to 10 miles east and northeast of Paonia, <br />Colorado. Five pads (15-01, IS-02, 15-03, 15-3.5, 15-OS) and at a minimum, 5 boreholes <br />will be located in Section 26, of T.13S., R.90W., 6`~ Principal Meridian, Gunnison <br />County, Colorado. One vertical exploration hole may be drilled from each of the borehole <br />pad locations. The road re-alignments on existing roads, trails, and ATV trails for these <br />holes are included on the attached map and will be field-fitted with the cooperation of the <br />USFS. The cultural and biological assessments have addressed the road re-alignment. A <br />schedule of drilling these holes is shown in Table 1. <br />The proposed boreholes and exploration holes are within the current permitted coal <br />mining azea on Federal Coal Leases COC-56447 and C-1362, held by Arch Coal Inc. The <br />Gob Vent / De-Gas Borehole Surface Maps at a scale of 1" = 600' and 1" = 300' depict <br />the general locations of the pads, boreholes, existing roads, and road improvements <br />relevant to the mine permit and lease boundaries. <br />SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY <br />The elevation of the proposed borehole locations range from 7,350 fr. at drill hole pad 15- <br />OI to 8,000 ft. at the 15-OS drill hole pad, near West Flat Iron Mesa in Section 26. The <br />terrain is comprised of steep slopes and mesa tops formed within the Wasatch and Mesa <br />Verde Formations and the colluvium and alluvium layers of the slope debris. The <br />principle drainages in this area is an unnamed tributary of Deep Creek, which flows <br />northeast into Ravens Creek and thence into the North Fork of the Gunnison River and <br />Sylvester Gulch that also flows northward into [he North Fork of the Gunnison. The <br />watercourses in the drilling azea are intermittent in nature and do not flow yeaz round. <br />GEOLOGY <br />The proposed Gob Vent / De-Gas Boreholes would be drilled along the southeastern edge <br />of the Piceance Basin within the Somerset Coal Field, occurring on the Somerset <br />U.S.G.S. 7 1/2 minute quadrangle map. <br />Initial geological work in this area was done by W. T. Lee (1912), who reported his <br />findings in "Coal Fields of Grand Mesa and the West Elk Mountains, Colorado" (USGS <br />Bulletin 510). Later in 1948, Ward H. Johnson published a USGS map of the Paonia Coal <br />Field incorporating drill hole data generated through a USGS and U.S. Bureau of Mines <br />drilling program. The following yeaz Johnson further described the geology of the <br />