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Water for dust suppression is used within the mine in many ways. <br />The continuous miner, while working at the face, can consume up to 50 <br />gallons of water per minute in an effort to keep coal dust down. Also, water <br />sprays are used at underground conveyor transfer points and underground <br />roads are watered. <br />Water which is imported to the mine is pumped from the onsite well <br />located adjacent to and east of the maintenance shop. A flow meter is <br />utilized to determine the total amount of water pumped from this well. The <br />operator has well permit number 42266-F for this well. The well permit <br />provides for a pumping rate of 100 gallons per minute and an average <br />~tual consumption of 40 acre feet. No record is kept of the water which is <br />pumped from a orth Fork of the Gunnison River to the onsite well. <br />The onsite well is used to 1) supply water to the underground mine; 2) <br />supply shower water to the office bathhouse; 3) supply water to the <br />maintenance shop for wash down water and water for the water truck for <br />surtace road dust suppression. The flow meter only measures total ' ~ <br />consumptive use. The operator estimates the volume of water used for <br />each of the categories listed above based on historic use values. <br />As noted in Bear's 1995 Annual Hydrologic Report, beginning in June <br />• of 1995, the Bear #3 Mine began to notice a measurable amount of water <br />flowing from behind seals in the 3`d West Section. The source of this water <br />was unknown since during development of 3`d West no measurable water <br />was encountered. During the reporting period of 1996, water continued to <br />flow from the 3~d West Seals, however, water also began flowing from the <br />bleeder seals in the 2nd West Section. This additional inflow overcame Bear <br />Coal's ability to consume inflows during normal mining and found it <br />necessary to begin discharging to the North Fork River. <br />Bear Coal Company, Inc. still suspects that the source of this water <br />originates in an abandoned area in the adjacent West Elk Mine. <br />A map depicting the area of the inflow is enclosed with this submittal <br />in ~4pnendix AA. <br />-u- <br />