Laserfiche WebLink
APR. -I?' 951110N1 15~a1 WRIGHT WATER ~ TEL 503 J8U l0?0- P. 005 <br />RECEIVED BY FAX <br />Ms. Kathy Welt <br />April 17, 1995 <br />Page 2 <br />AFR 1 7 1995 <br />badger hole. Lacking a tape or lone stick, l dropped smell rocks into the <br />hole and estimated it to be 15 feet deep. Except for that hole, the portion <br />of the crack which wds 5 feet wide ranged from 2 to 5 feet in depth. The <br />wide portion of the crack appeared almost as if a small block between two <br />cracks had settled as ~he creeks healed. <br />Dead bushes, vegetation, and condition of the soil indicated the crack probably occurred <br />two, to as much as, five years ago. Soil that sloughed from the steep banks and into the <br />crack appeased to be healing it. Mr. Every's report of his March 22, 1995 revisit of the <br />crack would indicate it has not opened farther and continues to heal. <br />On a westwazd horizontal and downward vertical projection of the crack, we found an <br />open vertical joint extending the full thickness (12 to 15 feet) of the lower sandstone cliff. <br />This joint had been opened some 12 to 16 inches. The sack, which at one time had been <br />1/4 to 3/8 inches wide, had been filled with crystalline calcite (?) mineral. More recent <br />movement pulled one side of the joint away from the mineral filling. <br />We saw no evidence that the crack continued downward into the shales, siltstorres, and <br />thin sandbeds beneath the massive cliff-forming sandstone. During the slope ascent, I <br />several times unknowingly traversed a projection of the crack and did not sex any cracks. <br />At that time, we were uncertain of the exact location of the crack and were looking for <br />it. On the descent of the hill, I specifically looked for a downward projection of the <br />crack, but did not see nay. <br />The subject crack is the widest that i have seen in nay subsidence area I have visited. Mr. <br />Rich Dutttvd, when hearing the description and examining the available photos, said it <br />was wider than any he had seen in his extensive subsidence research in the North Fork <br />V alley. <br />I believe a review of the mining history of that location explains the reason for the crack's <br />size and location. I might add that Mr. Duntud agrees with the following explanation. <br />In mid-1990, MCC room•end•pillaz mined the F-Seam in Section 20 up to vrithin <br />approximately 125 feet of the Section 17/Section 20 iiae. Earlier, Bear Coa{ Company <br />had room-and-pillar mined the C-Seam in Section 20 up to within 400 feet of the Section <br />17 south line. Bear Coal also room-and-pillar mined the C-Seam and the 8-Seam to the <br />north in Section 17. The $• and C-seam room-and-pillar mining extended to within 700 <br />feat of [he Section 17 south ]inc. At the time of our September 1994 visit, Bear Coal's <br />B-Seam Third West Main, along the south boundary of Section 17, had not yet been <br />pillared and that, had not subsided. Pillars were recovered by Beaz Coal from that main <br />in February 1995. Mr. Evary's March 22, 1995 visit did not note any apparent <br />