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A fresh water interceptor canal extends around the entire tailing pond to control the <br />intake of water into the process water system. As shown on Figure 1, this canal begins at <br />Ute Creek to the south of the tailing pond and discharges into Ute Creek downstream of the <br />pond. The design capacity of the canal is based on the ability to bypass the runoff resulting <br />from the probable maximum snowmelt flood, as described in the 1982 Wheeler report <br />"Rainflood and Snowmelt Flood Studies for the Henderson Mill Site." The design capacity of <br />the canal along the north side of the pond is 117 cfs. This capacity decreases as it extends <br />to the upper terminus at Ute Creek. <br />As part of the milling process, tailings are delivered as slurry from the mill to the <br />tailings impoundment where they are deposited using the upstream deposition method. The <br />height of the embankment and the size of the impoundment continue to increase as <br />additional tailings are deposited. The tailing impoundment consists of the embankment, <br />beach area, and water pool. The primary purpose of the water pool is to provide a means of <br />clarifying the process water so that it can be recirculated back to the mill. The existing <br />recirculation system consists of vertical towers in the pond that decant water from the water <br />pool into a pressurized conduit that extends under the embankment. The conduit serves as <br />the intake to large pumps located at the Ute Park Pump Station. From the pump station, the <br />process water is delivered through a 36 -inch- diameter steel pipeine up to East Branch <br />Reservoir where it is stored until it is required again in the mill. <br />The decant system that extends under the tailing embankment consists of two <br />concrete-encased steel pipelines. The diameter of the pipelines is 30 -inch in the upper <br />portion and 36 -inch in the lower portion. One of the pipelines serves as the intake to the Ute <br />Park pumps as described above. The second pipeline serves as the emergency spillway for <br />the impoundment in the event of dangerously high water levels in the water pool. As <br />previously stated, it is the intent of Climax to abandon and plug this existing decant system <br />and replace it with a pump barge system. <br />As shown on Figure 1 and on the design drawings for the project (not attached) the <br />proposed pump barge system would consist of a barge and a discharge pipeline to East <br />Branch Reservoir. The barge will be located on the southern edge of the tailing pond water <br />pool. The 26- inch - diameter discharge pipeline will extend approximately 10,000 feet from the <br />4 <br />