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• location of the well relative to the subsurface strike and dip of the wal seams in the Browning and Colt pits <br />makes contact with any leachates virtually impossible. No Second or Third White Sandstone wells exist <br />within one mile north of the permit boundary in the Pyeatt Gulch area. Significant drawdowns in the Third <br />Whfte Sandstone to the north of the mine are not expected because drainage of groundwater to the north <br />end of the mine, due to the increase in permeability in the backfill aquifer, will likely moderate water level <br />changes in the Third White Sandstone aquifer north of the mine. Significant natural water-level changes <br />have been observed in the Third White Sandstone aquifer at wells GC-2, GP-9 and P-8 due to wet and dry <br />cycles. These natural changes are likely to mask any water-level changes due to mining. The DR <br />(92425, 89740) and KLM (88592, W606) wells in the eastern portion of the permit should not be impacted <br />due to their distance from mining. Wells 226553F, 226554E and 22100E are completed below the <br />Twentymile Sandstone and should not be impacted by Trapper mining operations. <br />Third White Sandstone wells which exist within one mile downgradient of the eastem portion of the <br />Trapper Mine permit are permitted wells 80998 and WFi24-74. These iwo Third White Sandstone wells <br />exist downstream of proposed mining operations in the Flume Gulch drainage. Mining is not expected to <br />significantly affect the water levels in these wells. The closest Third White Sandstone well (80998) to the <br />eastem mine pits is approximately 6000 feet north of the planned mine cuts in this area. Additional <br />Second and Third White Sandstone wells exist further from the permit boundary. These wells are unlikely <br />• to see water levels affected by the Trapper mining activity. Continued monitoring in Third White <br />Sandstone wells GC-2 and GP-9 will be important in defining whether any water quality impacts develop in <br />this aquifer due to mining activities. Second White Sandstone wells in this area are very unlikely to be <br />affected because their outcrop is north of the northern limits of the Trapper pits. <br />Some potential exists for water quality to be affected in Third White Sandstone wells in areas north of <br />mining operations in the Flume Gulch drainage. Elevated TDS levels in groundwater could persist for a <br />prolonged period of time following mining as previously discussed. As this groundwater moves <br />downgradient into the Third White Sandstone, some ambient water quality constituent concentrations <br />could see increases. The percent pyrite wncenVation in A East pit and the Flume drainage will be <br />reflected in the temporal duration of elevated groundwater quality constituent concenVations observed in <br />this area. TDS and sulfate concenVations from the backfill in this drainage can be expected to fall within <br />ranges previously established in other backfill monitoring wells at Trapper. The overall quality of this water <br />will be dependent upon the degree of dilution that occurs as a result of underburden inflows, however, <br />some degradation in groundwater quality in the Third White Sandstone is possible. Pre-mining sulfate <br />concentrations as defined at wells GC-2 and GP-9 range from approximately 600 to 800 mg/I with TDS <br />values ranging from approximately 1300 to 1400 mgll. <br />• Considering the range of permeability values likely to exist in the Third White Sandstone, calculations <br />characterizing groundwater movement in this area suggest a plume of higher TDS water could migrate at <br />a rate varying from tens to hundreds of feet per year. At a projected groundwater flow rate of <br />4-2389 <br />R^v:5icn: Tip' 1Py <br />