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• and quality of the ground-•,::ter and surface-water <br />resources. Paramount iu this appraisal, however, is the <br />fact Chat the subject lease applications would morel}' <br />maintain present coal production rates of ongoing mir.~s <br />and would not increase future production. Thus, tine <br />currently active pits may eventually occupy the propcsed <br />lease tracts, but only their location and not their size <br />of the relative area disturbed would change. Pieant:hi_e, <br />reclamation of previously mined areas trould keep pace <br />with ongoing mining operations. The net effect, for all <br />practical purposes, would be to continue current impacts <br />i <br />j over the increased life of the operation at approxi:rz•:e1y <br />the same levels as are presently occurring. No attempt <br />is made here to assess the impacts of the current sea-e <br />of mining on the environment inasmuch as no pre-mining <br />hydrologic data are available for the area. It is <br />emphasized, hocrever, that current operations comply with <br />all established state and EPA standards for surface-water <br />discharge from the mined areas and that no discharge <br />lroblems are expected in conjunction with mining on the <br />proposed lease tracts. <br /> a. Ground Water <br />~ Removal of the Ida d.: coal bed and the overlying se- <br /> quence of interbedded shale, siltstone, and sandstone <br /> shouJ.d have minimal impact on potential aquifers in <br /> <br /> 121 <br /> <br />