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Mineral Joe Mine Environmental Protection Plan 19 <br />5.4.2.3 Uptake <br />The third component of an environmental exposure pathway is uptake by human or biological receptors. <br />The inventory of surface water features (Section 8.1) indicates that no intermittent or perennial streams <br />have been mapped within two miles downstream of the Mineral Joe Mine. The surface water exposure <br />pathway is limited to ephemeral drainages that could contain water for very short time periods immediately <br />after major storm events. Any potential chemical loading to surface water will be controlled and <br />minimized by the implementation of best management practices (BMPs) described in the Stormwater <br />Management Plan (Attachment 3 of the EPP). <br />Potential receptors for the groundwater pathway are similarly limited. The inventory of wells and springs <br />(9.4.1) indicates that most of the nearby wells are deep monitoring wells (200 to 600 feet deep) located <br />greater than one mile from the Mineral Joe Mine, and associated with the Pinon Ridge Mill site project. <br />These nearest wells are located in the Paradox Valley, northwest of the Mineral Joe site, where the <br />Mesozoic sandstone aquifers are absent. These wells are completed in the Chinle/Moenkopi aquifer, which <br />is well below the Morrison Formation in the stratigraphic section. In contrast, the flow of groundwater <br />below the Mineral Joe Mine is expected to be south and west, in response to the dip of units in the <br />Mesozoic aquifer and the hydrologic control of the Dolores River as the regional discharge. No <br />groundwater wells have been identified in the Mesozoic aquifers on Monogram Mesa, downdip of the <br />Mineral Joe Mine. Based on the hydrologic flow regimes described in Section 9, no potential groundwater <br />receptors are anticipated. <br />4148B.120927 Whetstone Associates • <br />