The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public comment on a “revised”
plan for a proposed phosphate mine. The Caldwell Canyon mine would sit on
1,830-acres in southwest Idaho. An earlier plan, which had been approved by
BLM, was vacated by a federal judge this past June (GM June 9, p. 1).
In the current plan, P4 Production LLC, a subsidiary of Bayer AG,
proposes to build the mine on a combination of public, state, and private land.
The site includes approximately 420 acres of land that is already developed
on Schmid Ridge about 13 miles east-northeast of Soda Springs, Idaho.
The mine proposal includes modifying existing lease boundaries, two new
open mine pits, haul and access roads, various utility lines, water management
features, monitoring wells, a shop, and office facilities.
BLM estimates that roughly 25% of domestically produced phosphate is
mined in southeastern Idaho.
As part of the scoping process, BLM will hold a virtual public meeting on Dec. 7, 2023. Participants can register at: https://tinyurl.com/36z73b6d. Registrants will receive a link to join the meeting. BLM will also announce the public meeting information via newspaper notice, the project planning webpage, and email.
BLM is seeking public input during a 30-day comment period to help identify issues to be analyzed during a future environmental review. The public comment period opened on Nov. 22 with publication of a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register, and closes on Dec. 22, 2023.
Interested parties can submit input using one of the following methods: Through the BLM National NEPA Register; Email to BLM_ID_CaldwellRevisedMRP_EIS@blm.gov; and delivered to Caldwell Canyon Revised Mine EIS, c/o Stantec Consulting Services Inc., 2890 East Cottonwood Parkway, Suite 300, Salt Lake City, Utah 84121.
The “revised” plan comes after a federal judge in June vacated BLM’s 2019
approval of the project. The US District Court for the District of Idaho had ruled in January that
the BLM violated the National Environmental Protection Act and the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act when it issued a final environmental impact statement
and 2019 Record of Decision for the Caldwell Canyon Mine Project (GM Jan.
27, p. 1).
Environmental groups argued that BLM did not take a hard look at
potential selenium pollution from the mine (GM May 20, 2022), nor
did it consider the mine’s impacts on the threatened greater sage grouse.
On June 2, Judge B. Lynn Winmill agreed with the plaintiffs that the
statement and record should be vacated. He said the standard the BLM applied
when assessing the project’s impact on the habitat of the greater sage grouse
population wasn’t as strict as the currently applicable standard, which calls
into question whether the BLM can reach the same decision on remand. The BLM
also did not take a requisite hard look at the direct, indirect, and cumulative
impacts of the project on the sage grouse, Winmill said.
The judge also ruled that BLM failed to 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. The plant was listed as a Superfund site in 1990.
According to Winmill, the BLM tried to avoid the seriousness of its
violation by attributing the concerns about human health and environmental
impacts to historic processing activities at the plant and not to current
operations. But “simply stating that no further analysis is necessary because
the harm is from historic practices ignores the problem contained with the
FEIS,” Winmill said.
P4 Production argued as intervenor that vacating the BLM’s approval would
cost its parent company more than $3 billion. But P4 failed to establish that
those are concrete losses, Winmill said, adding that the calculations were
“vague and conclusory.”
The BLM and P4 also failed to demonstrate that equity demanded a more
tailored remedy than vacating the earlier decisions, Winmill said.
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 have 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.
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.
