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Section 779,15(a) Continued. <br /> <br />Revised 11/20/80 <br />Sections. As shown in the cross-sections, the thickness of al- <br />luvium and depth to water is variable in the intermittent draws, <br />and ground water occurs most commonly in the isolated sand and <br />gravel deposits. <br /> Based on exploration drilling conducted in 1979 by Kerr Coal, the <br /> Sudduth coal seam is saturated and permeable in the mine plan and <br /> adjacent area. Exploration drilling has also encountered ground <br /> water in the strata overlying and underlying the coal seam. How- <br /> ever, in most of the holes drilled in the mine plan area, water was <br /> not encountered until the coal seam was penetrated, as documented <br /> in Exhibit 22a, Drill Hole Logs. The U.S. Geologic Survey con- <br /> ducted tests on USGS monitor wells DH-3B and DH-4 where ground <br /> water was encountered in the overburden. The range in calculated <br /> permeability was from 0.37 gpd/ft.2 to 7.5 gpd/ft.2, which are <br /> <br /> insufficient permeabilities to store and transmit water for a <br />" <br />" <br /> Hydrology of the McCallum Study Area <br />specific use ( <br />, by Warren <br /> Hoffstra, USGS Open File Report, in print). While ground water was <br /> encountered in the strata underlying the coal seam, a pump test <br /> performed by Kerr Coal on hole 79-14, which penetrates the under- <br /> burden, proved that the underburden has extremely low permeability <br /> (0.15 gallons per day per square foot) and that there is no leak- <br /> ance between the underburden and the coal seam. The nearest obser- <br /> vation well used in this test, 79-15, perforated in the coal aqui- <br /> fer, was 20 feet away from the pumped well and did not react to the <br /> test. The above results are documented in Exhibit 54, Aquifer Test <br /> Data. Observations of water production during drilling and aquifer <br /> testing indicate thet the Sudduth coal seam will be the only aqui- <br /> fer to be affected by mining. In the mine plan and adjacent area, <br /> the coal aquifer is contained within a ground water basin. formed by <br /> the Johnny Moore Syncline. Ground water occurrence in the basin is <br /> controlled by structure, topography and Iithology. The geologic <br /> structure and the horizontal extent of the coal aquifer is shown on <br />t <br />779-30 as <br />