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A review of well records from the Colorado State Engineers' office indicates that there <br />are no wells located within two miles of the remote LP -21 mine site. There is no <br />information available to indicate whether wells were not drilled in the remote area or test <br />wells found no significant quantities of water. Unlike the Burro Canyon Formation, <br />exposures of potential aquifers such as the Entrada and Wingate formations occur as <br />vertical outcrops along the Paradox Valley walls limiting the available area for <br />precipitation to enter the formation. <br />Based on studies for other mining sites in the area, it appears the Entrada is not a source <br />of groundwater. The Wingate Formation is a known source of groundwater to the north <br />near Club Mesa and Uravan. For the purposes of assessing the impact to local <br />groundwater resources, it will be assumed that Wingate Formation is the upper most <br />aquifer in the area. This is a conservative assumption since there is no evidence <br />indicating saturated conditions in the Wingate. The actual upper -most aquifer in the area <br />maybe Hermosa Formation located below the floor of the Paradox Valley - thousands of <br />feet below the LP -21 mine site <br />8.3.2 Hydrostratigraphic Structure <br />The geologic structure of the area is also important in predicting the direction of <br />groundwater flow. LP -21 is located on the flank of the Paradox anticline with the <br />geologic formations dipping to the northwest at 0.07. Groundwater flow directions in the <br />area are controlled by the dip of the rock and would flow in a similar northwest direction. <br />There are no mapped faults within the vicinity of LP -21. There are no map faults or <br />evidence of faulting under stockpiles, future storage areas, or mining areas. There are <br />significant regional faulting and fracture systems along the flanks of the Paradox Valley <br />located approximately a mile to the southwest that may impact recharge in the area which <br />are discussed in Section 8.3. <br />O'Connor Design Group Inc. U - 11 <br />