The Bureau of Land Management, along with the Forest Service, probably won’t be getting around to issuing a final decision on J.R. Simplot Co.’s Smoky Hollow phosphate mine expansion until February because the comment period has been extended until Dec. 26 on the final environmental impact statement.
BLM officials told Green Markets the 30-day extension wasn’t entirely because of concerns expressed by Gov. Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming about the impact of selenium contamination on residents of his state living just over the Idaho border from the mine location. “His letter was just part of it,” explained BLM Project Manager Bill Stout, who noted that it is agency policy not to issue the final decision for at least 30 days after release of the FEIS. “We’ve received numerous letters. I can’t say exactly how many, but we got a lot.” He added that with all the additional comments to consider it will probably be February before a record of decision is announced.
Freudenthal wrote to BLM District Manager Joe Kraayenbrink that while the Simplot mine is located in Idaho, the people who live in the Afton-Star Valley area are directly affected. “I have received requests expressing concerns over selenium contamination and asking that people be given an extra 75 days to submit comments on the final environmental impact statement before the record of decision is released,” he added. “The mine is already an identified CERCLA Superfund cleanup site. Any mining development approved for the Smoky Canyon mine needs to comply with the water quality standards administered by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Therefore to provide adequate opportunity for review of the FEIS I respectfully request that the public comment period be extended for an additional 75 days beyond the minimum 30 days required for public comment.”
The BLM’s Kraayenbrink told the local press an extension of 30 days to Dec. 26 was granted about a week after Freudenthal’s letter, which Kraayenbrink said was one of many asking for an extension on what is called the “availability period” of the final environmental impact statement. “What we’d be looking for is significant new information that has not been looked at before,” he said.
Freudenthal spokeswoman Cara Eastwood said of the governor’s letter, “I think that the sense was that it was a complicated enough situation that merited a little bit more time for our Department of Environmental Quality to fully review all the documents.” Simplot reportedly has invited Freudenthal to the site to allay his concerns about selenium leaching out of waste rock from the mine, but no date for a visit has been set.
In the meantime, BLM officials believe they have solved another problem involving a haul road Simplot needs to expand the mine. Stout said the agency’s first choice for environmental reasons isn’t available because the route crosses private property and the owner has refused the company’s $2.1 million offer. Instead, BLM plans to settle on an alternate route after Simplot chose not to invoke a 111-year old constitutional right to condemn property to access mining claims. “We’re not allowing Simplot to construct the road there unless they can reach a mutually agreeable deal with the property owner,” Stout reported.