ORDER
It is recommended that the Temporary Order to Declare a Ground Water Emergency, issued by the Director on January 29, 1988, be terminated.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The Department of Natural Resources (the "Department") is an agency as the term is defined in IC 4-21.5-1.
2. On March 16, 1988, the Director of the Department ordered that additional evidence be heard following a motion made by the Claimant.
3. Claimant maintains that evidence acquired subsequent to the initial hearing held on February 2, 1988, demonstrates that a hydrologic connection exists between the Respondent's coal mining operations and the Complainant's (Gary Yoder) well.
4. An exhibit submitted by the Claimant indicated that between January 28, 1988 and March 10, 1988, water levels in the Yoder well increased by almost 16 feet (from a depth of 36 feet to almost 20 feet). The same exhibit also reported an increase in rainfall throughout that period.
5. Claimant also noted during the hearing, that rainfall amounts in December were similarly heavy, yet the water level in the Yoder well decreased substantially. Claimant therefore contends that because the only significant difference between December and February was the fact that by February the Respondents had ceased mining in the area, such circumstances indicate a hydrologic connection between Respondent's mine and the Yoder well.
6. Respondent's representative testified that 2.5 inches of rain fell in early February and filled the pit. The pit was subsequently pumped with no resulting effect on the Yoder well's water level. According to this testimony, the Yoder well would have been effected had there been a hydrologic connection between the pit and well. Such was not the case.
7. Respondent's representative also testified that the water that had collected in the pit was surface and not ground water and that based upon his knowledge of wells in the area, he would not necessarily term the 16 foot increase in the water level of the Yoder well as unusual.
8. Based upon the evidence presented at this hearing, there remains insufficient proof that a significant hydrologic connection between the Respondent's mine and the Yoder's well exists.