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In addition to the core samples, aggegate samples of actual waste rock material were collected from the <br />undergound mine. The aggregate samples came from roof material from roof falls, fault crossings, or overcast <br />mining operations. The aggregate samples were also delivered to the lab for leachate testing. <br />The Area 1 Pit coal waste disposal site is an open excavation with a bedrock highwall on the north side and a spoil <br />slope on the south side. The bedrock on the highwall side contains a sequence of saturated sandstone and siltstone <br />units referred to as the "overbwden aquifer". The characteristics of the overbwden aquifer aze fully described in <br />under Rule 2.04.7, The permeability and storativity of the overbwden aquifer have been detemtirted by conducting <br />pump tests at several locations in the permit area. At the Energy No. 1 Mine, average horizontal permeability is 2.9 <br />gallons per day per square foot, vertical permeability is 0.1 gpd/ftZ, and storativity is 1.7 x 10-4 {unitless). The <br />average yield of wells penetrating the overbwden aquifer is 17.6 gpm. Hydraulic conductivities in the overbwden <br />aquifer are, therefore, very low, except in localized azeas where the aquifer has been extensively fractwed by joints <br />and faults. <br />The spoil material up-dip from the pit forms an unconfined aquifer which serves to recharge the local Bound water <br />system. Water from snowmelt and rainfall i~ltrates into the spoils, and flows down-dip along the pit floor where <br />it pools up against the highwall. The head of water in the pit exceeds the elevation of the piezometric surface in the <br />adjacent overbwden aquifer and groundwater flows into the highwall, providing recharge to the overbwden aquifer. <br />Groundwater flows to the north under the gradient of piezometric surface as showtt in Map 13, Twentymile Park <br />Hydrology. <br />Strip mining operations at the Energy No. 1 Mine ceased in 1980. During the mining operations, groundwater <br />inflow from the overbwden in the highwall was minimal. Since that time, infiltration of water from rainfall and <br />snowmelt into the reclaimed spoils has ceased leaching of the spoil materials, and this leachate has accumulated in <br />the fmal pit at the bottom of the dip-slope. The chemistry of the leachate water, as well as the water level and <br />chemistry of Bound water in the overbwden aquifer, have been monitored on a monthly basis from 1979 to the <br />present. Monitoring records aze listed in Table 50, Energy Mine No. 1 Pit Water Quality. This data is gaphically <br />represented in Figure 8, Leachate Concentration, Energy Mine No. 1, As shown, actual concentrations of TDS <br />fluctuate, due to seasonal variations in snowmelt and precipitation. Average yeazly concentrations of leachate aze <br />shown below: <br />Year # Sam es Min. TDS Max. TDS Ave. TDS <br />1979 21 2080 3850 2948.1 <br />1980 37 700 3320 2626.8 <br />1981 22 4S6 2920 2608.5 <br />1982 17 324 3320 2863.1 <br />1983 24 520 4400 2757.9 <br />in 1979, a study of leaching potential of overburden at the Energy No. 1 Mine was conducted. Column leach tests <br />were devised to simulate the dissolution of soluble minerals in the mine spoils over time. Concentration of TDS <br />was related to electrical conductivity by lineaz regression. Concentration of leachate produced was related to time <br />by computing the travel velocity of water through the spoils. The results of these experiments are shown in Figure <br />9, Predicted Leachate Concentration, Energy Mine No. 1. The average concentration of TDS in the adjacent <br />overburden aquifer is approximately 650 mg/1. Note that the predicted TDS concentration decreases rapidly to <br />approximate baseline conditions after 7S years. in 1983, similaz column leach tests were performed on <br />undergound development waste to demonstrate that ground water quality will not be degaded by leaching of <br />waste rock. The test procedwes and results are presented in Exhibit 27, Column Leach Study of Mine Waste <br />Material. The trend of leachate production from roof, floor and coal waste was very similaz to that of mixed <br />TR 05-47 2.05-93 Revised -January 2005 <br />