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• An additional surface water monitoring site is being considered for the Nucla Mine in the <br />postl aw reclaimed area above County Road 124A-A. Because regrading and seeding in this <br />area will not be completed until the latter part of 1988 or the first part of 1989, the <br />monitor instrumentation and location specifics will be deferred until then. Data obtained <br />from this site will serve to evaluate the success of reclamation practices with regard to <br />controlling drainage, chemical and sediment loads from postlaw reclaimed areas. <br />During the 1987 water year, spoil spring surveys were conducted within and adjacent to the <br />Nucla permit boundary. The first survey was conducted during May of 1987, and the second <br />during September of 1987. Both surveys involved visual observations for seeps and <br />springs, and resulted in no discovery of any additional seeps or springs within the <br />surveyed area. <br />The field equipment used for sampling conductivity and temperature at the Nucla Mine and <br />the Nucla East mining area (YSI conductivity meter) was tested for accuracy on December <br />10, 1987. The testing was performed by comparing the Nucla conductivity meter against an <br />identical meter used for similar measurements at Peabody's Seneca Mine in northern <br />• Colorado. Both meters were used to measure the conductivity and temperature of tap Hater. <br />The Seneca meter measured the water as 380 umhos at 10°C, while the Nucta meter registered <br />readings of 360 umhos at 10°C. Temperature readings for both meters were identical, and <br />the Nucla conductivity meter measured the conductivity of the water within 5.3 percent of <br />the Seneca meter. <br />The Seneca conductivity meter was calibrated on July 31, 1987. The calibration was <br />performed by measuring the conductivity of a 0.01 denial potassium chloride (KCI) solution <br />_. at 21°C (YSI, 1979). Based on the conductivity table for this solution at 21°C (YSI, <br />1979), the conductivity of the solution was 1300 umhos. The Seneca meter registered a <br />conductivity of 1300 umhos at 21°C for the prepared solution, which indicated accurate <br />calibration of the Seneca conductivity meter. <br />The pH meter used to measure field-determined pH values at the Nucla Mine and Nucla East <br />mining area is calibrated by performing two-point calibrations prior to each daily round <br />of monitoring activities and one-point calibrations prior to each measurement using buffer <br />solutions of known pH values obtained from outside laboratories. Three buffer solutions <br />• are used for calibration: 1) pii 10; 2) pH 7 and 3) pH 4. The buffer solutions are <br />replaced monthly to ensure accurate calibration of the meter. Most of the two point <br />7 <br />