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• 1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />Picketwire Processing LLC (Picketwire) owns and operates the New Elk underground coal <br />mine and preparation plant in southern Colorado. This report presents the hydrologic <br />monitoring activities conducted at the mine during 2004 and analysis of trends over atwenty- <br />yeaz monitoring period. The remainder of this section describes the mine site area and the <br />current hydrologic monitoring program. Section 2.0 describes the monitoring methods used <br />for the program while Section 3.0 provides the monitoring data for 2004. Also included in <br />this report is a discussion of mitigative measures undertaken to minimize disturbance to area <br />hydrologic functions (Section 4.0) and plans for future hydrologic monitoring activities <br />(Section 5.0). Data and information related to this assessment are presented as Appendices <br />of this report. <br />] . I SITE DESCRIPTION <br />The New Elk east portal area is located three miles east of Stonewall and seven miles west of <br />Weston in T33S, R68W in Las Animas County, Colorado. 'fhe mine is situated in <br />mountainous terrain with numerous canyons contributing runoff to the drainages of <br />ephemeral, intermittent, and perennial streams ofthe area (see Map 8, Regional Hydrology in <br />the Permit Document). The New Elk mine is located on the Middle Fork of the Purgatoire <br />River, about 1.5 miles upstream of the confluence of the North Fork. Most surface facilities <br />of the mine are adjacent, and underground mining occurred under and to the north and south <br />• of, the Purgatoire River, in an area known as the Picketwire Valley. Underground activities <br />at the New Elk mine have ceased, and the mine was sealed in 1989. Surface facilities and <br />coal processing activities are the most visible indicators of coal mining activity irr the area. <br />The Purgatoire River is the primary stream drainage in the area of the mine. The headwaters <br />of the Purgatoire are located on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range <br />west of the mine azea. The general direction of stream flow is easterly to the confluence with <br />the Arkansas River, also in Las Animas County. The principal tributary of the Purgatoire <br />River which drains in the vicinity of the mine permit area is Apache Canyon. Apache <br />Canyon drains a watershed of approximately 7,264 acres. Cover in the canyon is primarily <br />woodland with a herbaceous valley bottom. Primary land use is grazing and wildlife habitat. <br />Surface mine features within the Apache Canyon (on the left fork) include two ventilation <br />shafts for the now inactive New Elk mine. These shags have been transferred to the Golden <br />Eagle mine permit and the Golden Eagle mine assumed the reclamation liability for the <br />facilities. Portions of Apache Canyon have been under mined (by room and pillar mining). <br />Apache Canyon discharges into the Purgatoire River above the Golden Eagle mine reclaimed <br />area. Apache Canyon was determined not to meet alluvial valley fluor criteria. <br />The geologic setting is an important factor when analyzing hydrology of an area. <br />Stratigraphy in the region of the mine ranges in age from Pre-Cambrian to Quaternary. <br />However, only portions of the Raton Formation (see Figure 1.1-I) and recent alluvial <br />deposits are exposed in the area of the mine. Most oPthe formation consists of very fine fo <br />medium grained sandstone interbedded with siltstone and shale. Coal that was mined at the <br />New Elk is located near the middle of the Raton Formation. The outcrop of the formation in <br />