REP42677

• Permit No: C1984062
• IBM Index Class Name: Report
• Doc Date: 1/28/1997
• Doc Name: 1995 AHR REVIEW
• From: DMG
• To: JOE DUDASH
• Annual Report Year: 1995
• Permit Index Doc Type: HYDROLOGY REPORT
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

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999
STATE OF COLURADU
DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY
Department nl N, lural Resources
U 13 Sherman SL, Koum ?15
Denver, Colorado P02U3
Phone: [phone]-:4567
FA%: 1 iU f l 8J? A I U6
DATE: January 28, 1997
TO: Joe Dudash
FROM: Susau Burgmaier~
RE: Mine No. 3 (Permit No. C-84-062)
1995 Anuual Hydrology Report
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DEPARTMENT OF
NATURAL
RESOURCES
Roy Romer
Governor
tames 5. Lochhead
Ezeculive Director
Michael 8. Lang
Division Dvecior
I have completed a review of the 1995 Annual Hydrology Report (AHR) for Mine No. 3. I reviewed
the report to determine whether or not Colorado Yampa Coal Company (CYCC) conducted the
required monitoring as stated in the approved Mine No. 3 permit application package, and [o compare
the monitoring results to date with predictions of probable hydrologic consequences (PHC) stated in
the approved permit application package.
1995 water yeaz monitoring was conducted as required with the following exceptions:
CYCC did not report Nitrate and Nitrite for [he fourth quarter of 1994 at well
008-AV-2.
The November 1994 spoil well monitoring reported trace metals as total recoverable,
rather than dissolved. This is probably not an issue, though, because CYCC is only
required to conduct a full suite sample semiannually, and the metals were analyzed
correctly in May and September.
Flow at Site 900 (surface water on Foidel Creek), shown on Table 10 of the 1995
AHR, is noted as "below chart minimum" from May through September. Flow values
for that same period, however, aze presented graphically on Figure No. 17 of the 1995
AHR. [t's not clear whether CYCC conducted the monitoring, or if the information
was obtained from the USGS. Regardless, CYCC is required to obtain flow data at
Site 900 and report it in the AHR. If CYCC does not presently have a means for
obtaining flow data at very low flows, CYCC should devise a system to obtain the
required data.
At Site 700, CYCC is required to obtain flow and field parameters data twelve times
per year, Mazch through September. CYCC reported that data only eleven times
during the same period in the 1995 water year.
I reviewed water quality data and compazed it to previous years' data, and predictions in the PHC.
The PHC predicts, for groundwater, an increased postmine recharge rate, leaching of soluble material
in backfilled areas, and the transport of accumulated dissolved salts through [he overburden aquifer
outside of the permit area. For surface water, CYCC predicts increased runoff and erosion within the
permit area during mining, increased sediment loading within the permit azea during mining, a
temporary increase in salt loading of streams draining the permit area, and a long term change in the
ion balance of surface water within the permit and adjacent areas. Alluvial valley floors (AVFs) were
identified on lower Foidel Creek, lower Middle Creek, and Fish Creek in the vicinity of Tipple No.
3. The PHC for the AVFs predicts increased total dissolved solids (TDS), but no material damage