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temperature, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, total <br />iron, and total manganese. <br />Underground or mine water is permitted for discharge at the <br />following locations: Sylvester Gulch fan site, sediment pond <br />MB-1, the Sylvester Gulch mine water treatment facility, Lone <br />Pine Gulch and Minnesota Creek. The Lone Pine discharge has <br />been discontinued, and the portals have been sealed. Mine water <br />is discharged through the main portals to MB-1 and from the <br />mine water treatment facility to Sylvester Gulch. Quality <br />parameters appear to be such that B seam mine water will be <br />suitable for treatment and discharge under current NPDES/CDPS <br />permit requirements to the North Fork of the Gunnison River. <br />The quality of mine water from the E seam workings can be <br />expected to be similar to water from the B seam workings, based <br />on the similar depositional origin of these two seams. <br />The rate of mine water discharge from West Elk's underground <br />workings ranges from 0 to 2,000 gpm. The average over a year is <br />about 100 gpm. Water discharged from the mine has met NPDES <br />criteria with periodic excursions of high alkalinity causing some <br />WET test failures in past years. MCC has coordinated with the <br />WQCD and the Division in development of a solution for <br />eliminating the problem. <br />MCC monitors twenty-four springs in the area, including three <br />springs in the Dry Fork lease area. Baseline data typically are <br />collected for a minimum of one year prior to mining in an area. <br />In 1998, Mountain Coal Company performed an extensive study <br />of the springs in the vicinity of the West Elk Mine. The study <br />showed that nearly all the springs tapped shallow meteoric <br />groundwater in the colluvial deposits, rather than bedrock <br />sources. As a result of the study, a revision was made in the <br />monitoring program, with the eighteen springs monitored to <br />include all decreed springs and those which might have some <br />bedrock groundwater component. Springs are also monitored <br />three times a year for pH, conductivity, temperature, total <br />dissolved solids, total suspended solids, total iron and total <br />manganese. The springs, to date, show no significant trends or <br />changes which can be associated with mining activity. Most <br />springs are responsive to spring runoff, but flow rates are sporadic <br />and many times do not correlate well with other seasonal <br />parameters such as snowpack, precipitation, or streamflow. <br />36 <br />