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e <br />ESPEY, HUSTON BASSOCIATES, INC. <br />r~ <br />LJ <br />CIiAPTER H: ENVIItONMENTAL RESOURCES/CLIMATOLOGY AND AIR QUALITY <br />1.0 INI%lIXICPION <br />1.1 OBJECTIVES <br />The meteorology and air quality monitoring program has been con- <br />ducted by I~viro-Test, Ltd. 'IYie objectives of the program were to collect <br />meteorological and air quality data and to describe the meteorological character- <br />istics and particulate loading of the atmosphere in the vicinity of the existing <br />and proposed mines. The program was designed to docianent conditions in the <br />general region of the mines, specifically in the Curtis Creek airshed area. <br />Since the ar ition of anission permits for the active portion of the ;Meeker <br />Area Mines, and the canpilation of abundant data, the monitoring program was <br />discontinued. This was done with consultation of CI7Ei and Cdr. <br />• 1.2 STUDY AREA CLIMATOLOGY <br />The study area is within the Cuttis Creek airshed below Nine Mile Gap to <br />the lower end of the Curtis Creek Canyon where the creek enters the White River <br />Valley, approximately 6 miles northeast of Meeker, Colorado. Figure H-1 shows the <br />airshed study azea in relation to the regional azea. The local climate of the Curtis <br />Creek airshed is strongly influenced by microclimate features -- slope, elevation <br />and vegetation. The steepness of the terrain, together with its type and amount of <br />vegetation, orientation and range of elevation aze the major controls of the diurnal <br />wind patterns. During a wazm, sunny dap, the heating of the sunlit valley slope <br />causes the adjacent air to wazm and rise. A related phenomenon occurs at night <br />when radiative cooling of the valley walls and higher elevations cool the adjacent <br />air. This air, being more dense than the surrounding air, slides down the slope, <br />draining into the lowest portion of the valley, or settles above colder, heavier air. <br />The nearest long-term weather station is located at the pipeline substa- <br />. tion, several miles southwest of the town of Meeker. The elevation of this station <br />H-1 <br />.~ _~ _~ <br />