PERMFILE127443 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

West E!k Mine (total recoverable), molybdenum, selenium (total recoverable), boron, and zinc will be conducted. '~ Once five yeazs of data have been accumulated, the annual laboratory analysis will only include TDS, TSS, pH, conductivity and iron (dissolved and total). A seasonal, rather than quarterly or semi-annual water quality monitoring schedule was instituted for a variety of reasons. The primary reason for selecting seasonal sampling is that, in many instances, particulazly streamflow and spring flows, these aze the only periods of measurable flow. Most of the streams are ephemeral or intermittent at best, and neazly all of the springs are ephemeral except in the wettest yeazs. The baseline data clearly indicate that there is no reason to attempt to sample these locations during winter. The adverse conditions encountered in the remote areas of the West Elk Mine lease azea severely hamper sampling procedures and influence the collection of meaningful data. As a result, by restricting sampling to the periods of flow and ensuring sample integrity, Mountain Coal Company will be able to provide meaningful data to the agency while reducing the costs associated with collecting unnecessary data or data that is not meaningfixl. Mountain Coal Company has selected the water quality parameters in Table 5 for routine measure- ment because they will adequately characterize the quality of the water. Annual full-suite monitoring (and the reduced pazameter list) will allow Mountain Coal Company to identify possible mining-inducedchanges in water quality. West Elk Mine, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service District Office in Paonia, Colorado, has agreed to informally monitor the U.S. Forest Service surface water resources, as depicted on the U.S. Forest Service Water Resources Map, that aze located directly over panels to be mined, and within the angle-of-drawper the agreement letter in Exhibit 19C. _, ~ SprinQ Monitoring In 1977 Mountain Coal Company began a spring water monitoring program that incorporated monthly, quarterly and semi-annual monitoring of flow andlor water quality. Map 37 shows the springs identified on the West Elk Mine lease area, the monitored springs, the springs sampled for water quality, and the locations of the decreed springs on the West Elk Mine lease azea and vicinity. Map 34 shows the location of springs currently in the monitoring program. The most recent Annual Hydrology Report provides a graphic representation of the flow data available for the springs monitored and water quality data. It is estimated that it might be some time before secondary recovery mining will take place south of the Minnesota Creek watershed divide. As a result, there is no need to operate and maintain the entire spring monitoring network until mining advances to a point where a specific spring might be impacted. Rather, monitoring of some of the springs will be stopped until the summer before mining impacts can be expected, at which time monitoring of appropriate springs will be resumed. Monitoring will continue, on a seasonal basis, for the springs in the approved monitoring program as listed on Table 5. In the Minnesota Creek drainage basin, monitoring was discontinued for springs J-4, 3-7, 3-10 and WCC-23 until the summer before mining impacts can be expected, at which time monitoring of these springs will be resumed. Monitoring of spring J-4 was reinitiated in 1996. Monitoring of a group of three springs (G-25, G-28a and G-31) in Gribble Gulch and one spring (G-26a) in Lone Pine Gulch were discontinued for several yeazs due to access being blocked by landslides. The Z.t)5-72 Revised Dec. 1997 MR208; Revised Jan. 1999 TR88