PCS gets phosphate permit for Aurora

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, said on June 3 that it rendered a Record of Decision and proffered a permit to the PCS Phosphate Corp. to expand its mining operations in Beaufort County, N.C. As conditions of the permit, PCS Phosphate must complete extensive compensatory mitigation and monitoring before, during, and following all mining and reclamation activities.

“This Record of Decision culminates a long, complex and thorough process,” said Col. Jefferson Ryscavage, Commander of the Wilmington District. “Our regulatory project manager and staff worked intensively with the applicant, federal and state resources agencies, and environmental organizations over a period of more than eight years. We are confident that we have identified an appropriately drawn and balanced alternative and proffered a permit that will allow continued access to an important mineral resource, while maximizing protection to wetlands, streams and watersheds, and ensuring reclamation, mitigation and stewardship of a sensitive and highly valued coastal ecosystem.”

The Corps said the original plan put forward by PCS has been significantly altered in the eight-year process of completing the Environmental Impact Statement. Eleven alternative plans, including a “no action” alternative, were evaluated. The Record of Decision (ROD) selects “Alternative L, with modifications” to be permitted, while requiring extensive mitigation and other actions as conditions for the permit. The Corps said this is both the most extensive regulatory permit ever proffered in North Carolina and the largest mitigation effort ever undertaken by an applicant.

Compared with PCS Phosphate’s original proposal, Alternative L reduces impacts to linear feet of stream by about 80 percent and reduces wetlands impacts by about 40 percent. The Corps and the applicant worked closely with resource agencies to protect the highest value ecosystem areas within the alternative selected. A brief table (see next page) shows PCS Phosphate’s original proposal, the final Alternative L as modified, and the reductions in mined area and impacts achieved.

In addition to the more than 1,750 acres of wetlands and 66,000 linear feet of stream avoided, Alternative L reflects substantive efforts to confine impacts to areas of lesser ecological value. Mining will be staged so that the impacts are scheduled to occur only as actual mining operations progress over approximately 36 years. Reclamation begins to restore some values to the impacted areas even as mining activities are ongoing. Reclaimed areas will reconnect to their watersheds and promote the return of appropriate vegetation and wildlife.

Restoration, enhancement, and preservation mitigations to be undertaken by PCS Phosphate as conditions of the permit will include more than 10,000 acres of wetland mitigation, and more than 84,000 linear feet of stream. The mitigation plan as a whole meets or exceeds federal guidelines.

The latest delay in the project was prompted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region Four in Atlanta, which said the project should be put on hold until further review by EPA’s Office of Water and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works (GM March 30, p. 12). Thereafter, in April, PCS announced layoffs at the Aurora facility, impacting 24 workers, blaming the delay (GM April 20, p. 13).

PCS Phosphate Manager of Environmental Affairs Ross Smith was quoted in the local Washington Daily News as saying it was a good day for PCS and Beaufort County. He said that while the company will be leaving a lot of phosphate in the ground, it will accept the decision so that it could continue Aurora operations. He indicated that if there are no appeals that PCS could begin mining the new areas by the end of the summer.

EPA and local environmental groups could still appeal the latest decision. The Southern Environmental Law Center, one of the major opponents, had not responded to inquiries at press time. However, they told the local paper that their expectations are very low that PCS will do anything meaningful to address wetland destruction and damage to the Pamlico River.