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,-- <br />3.0 STUDY AREA AND METHODOLOGY <br />This report deals with the groundwater hydrologic baseline conditions <br />occurring on, and in, the immediate vicinity of the Hayden Gulch Coal <br />Mine permit boundary (see Exhibit 1). Although the monitoring wells <br />have been located to assess the groundwater resource within the permit <br />area, wells LC 3, LC 1, UC 1, and LC 4 were also positioned in a manner <br />that will allow them to be part of a monitoring network to assess any <br />future western mining blocks. All seven wells were located in areas which <br />will not be disturbed by mining activities to allow continued monitoring <br />throughout mining and reclamation. <br />The study includes a combination of the original VTN study (discussed later) <br />and M-K's supplemental program involving the drilling of five wells, two <br />of which are dual completions, and the monitoring of three springs. The <br />locations of the wells and springs-are shown on Exhibit 1. Spring 1 is <br />a developed spring which monitors zones well above the coal sequence. This <br />site records wateh quality. Considering the small amount of recharge area <br />i affected, other monitoring sites (wells) will not be needed in the zone <br />above the coal. In order to evaluate the overburden, a fluid level map was <br />generated by computer (Exhibit 41). Spring 2 originates in the upper coal <br />seams and thus acts as a water level and quality site in conjunction with <br />Upper Coal wells 1, 2, and 3 (UC 1, UC 2, UC 3). Spring 3 originates from <br />the Twenty Mile Sandstone and provides water quality correlation with VTN <br />Well G 2. The study relies upon two sets of wells, one set of three wells <br />in the Upper Coal horizons and one set of four wells in the Lower Coal zone. <br />The Upper Coal wells were perforated to monitor coal seams two, three, and <br />four, and the layers between these seams. The distance between the top of <br />seam two and the bottom of seam four varies from 30 to 35 feet. This <br />sequence is very lenticular and only small amounts of water have been en- <br />countered. Communication, although minimal, does exist throughout this <br />aggregate of coals and inter-coal materials thus allowing one set of wells <br />to monitor these layers as one unit., The lower coal wells monitor the <br />bottom coal horizon and the thin sandstone directly underneath it. The <br />• <br />3 <br />;. , ~ ~ , . <br />