The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) did not adequately assess environmental harms when approving a plan by P4 Production LLC, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, to develop a phosphate mine in Idaho, a federal judge ruled, according to Bloomberg Law.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds Project, and WildEarth Guardians sued the agency, alleging that it did not take a hard look at potential selenium pollution from the Caldwell Canyon Mine (GM May 20, 2022), nor did it consider the mine’s impacts on the near-threatened greater sage grouse.
Judge B. Lynn Winmill of the US District Court for the District of Idaho mostly agreed with the groups, determining that the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act and Federal Land Management Act when it approved the mine without fully assessing all of its potential harms.
The agency did not consider the indirect effects to public health by sending the phosphate rock to be processed at the Soda Springs plant, which would produce the herbicide glyphosate for use in Roundup products, Winmill said. The plant, which was listed as a Superfund site in 1990, pollutes groundwater and surface-water, which impacts local communities.
The BLM also failed to adequately assess the impacts of the project on the greater sage grouse, which could experience habitat loss and harm to population connectivity, the judge said in his Tuesday, Jan. 24, opinion partially granting summary judgment to the environmental groups and partially granting summary judgment to the agency.
Winmill disagreed with the environmental groups that the BLM failed to take a hard look at the cumulative impacts on water resources, ruling that its Environmental Impact Statement provided detailed and sufficient information. The agency also did not violate Idaho’s water quality rules, as it obtained and complied with all necessary permits and authorizations, Winmill said.
The groups asked the judge to vacate the approval, but attorneys for the Center for Biological Diversity said in an email that it is unclear what remedy the court is granting.
P4 argued that the mine is crucial and is needed for the company’s elemental phosphorus plant operations near Soda Springs, formerly owned by Monsanto Inc. Company officials said the Caldwell Canyon Mine would sustain about 185 mining jobs and 585 plant jobs for about 40 years, and would aid the region by providing $47 million annually in payroll, taxes, royalties, and purchases, as well as sustaining support and service jobs.
BLM approved the Caldwell Canyon Mine in August 2019 (GM Aug. 16, 2019) after issuing a final environmental impact statement three months previously. The project is designed to develop three leases on Schmidt Ridge in Dry Valley, about 13 miles northeast of Soda Springs.
P4 would use mining methods at the Caldwell Canyon Mine similar to those used at the company’s Blackfoot Bridge Mine. Work would begin in time to transition from the Blackfoot Bridge Mine near the Blackfoot River, where ore is projected to be depleted in less than seven years.
In total, mining and support facilities would disturb about 1,559 acres – 153 acres of BLM public land, seven acres of previously disturbed US Forest Service land, 230 acres of Idaho State Endowment land, and 1,169 acres of private land. The expected mine life would be 42 years, followed by an expected two years of reclamation.