1986-06-13_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981018

• Permit No: C1981018
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 6/13/1986
• Doc Name: Permit Application Approval Package Fed Leases C-023703, D-047201, C-8424, C-8425, C-0126669
• From: OSM
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

• -4-
An application for a permit revision to add Federal Coal Leases C-8424, C-8425
and C-0126669 to the permit was received by the Division on October 24, 1985.
The application- was found complete on October 31 , 1985. A preliminary
adequacy review of the application was forwarded to Western Fuels on
December 26, 1985. The permittee responded to the Division's review comments
in January 1986. All Division concerns regarding the adequacy of the permit
revision application were subsequently resolved and the Division issued a
proposed decision to approve the permit revision request on
February 28, 1986.
II. Description of the Environment
The elevation of the mine site ranges between 5,300 and 5,900 feet. Land uses
within the permit and adjacent areas are winter range for sheep and wildlife
habitat. Gently rolling to moderately sloping land forms cover a majority of
the mine permit area. Slopes range in steepness from 0 to 6 percent in the
valleys and relatively level uplands to 50 percent or more along the
sideslopes of major drainages.
The mine is located in the'; White River Basin, the eastern part of the larger
Uinta Basin which extends from northwest Colorado west into eastern Utah. The
mine lies within the interbedded sandstone and siltstone strata of the Upper
Williams Fork Formation: Mesaverde Group. The Mesaverde Group has been
divided into two sections: the Lower Iles Formation and the Upper Williams
Fork Formation, which are separated by the Trout Creek Sandstone. The
Williams Fork Formation is further divided into Upper and Lower members. The
Lower Williams Fork Member contains coal seams A through H, of which the D and
B seams are or will be recovered by the underground operation. _
The dip of the Mesaverde Group within the permit area is controlled by the
asymmetric Red Wash Syncline, which strikes northwest southeast through the
refuse disposal site. Dips vary from 70 in the southern part of the permit
area, to horizontal at the„ synclinal axis, to as much as 700on the north flank
of the syncline. The coal; and sandstone beds outcrop along this steep
northern flank. Structure', and local topography are the main factors which
control ground water movement in the area.
The Williams Fork Formation is divided into three hydrologic units: the Lower
Sandstone Facies, which underlies the "A" coal seam and is generally
equivalent to the Trout Creek Sandstone and the upper portion of the Iles
Formation; the Siltstone and Coal Facies, which consists of the interbedded
coal , siltstone, and shale strata of the Lower Williams Fork Formation; and
the Upper Sandstone Facies of the Upper Williams Fork Formation.
A forth hydrologic unit is the alluvium of the White River and its
tributaries. The maximum thickness of the White River Alluvium near the
permit area was found to be 37 feet.
No major usage of ground water has been defined by the permittee. Due to the
generally low yields of aquifers in the region and poor water quality, it
would not be expected that ground water usage would be high. Of the water
rights that do exist within 70 square miles encompassing the permit area, all
are surface water rights. The water-bearing properties of the major
stratigraphic units in the mine plan area are largely dependent on secondary