The J.R. Simplot Co. has signed an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) regarding cleanup of pollution at its Smoky Canyon Mine, located about 25 miles east of Soda Springs in Southeast Idaho, near the Wyoming border.
The agreement was forged to determine the extent of contamination and any threat to public health, welfare, or the environment caused by the release of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants at or from the mine site by conducting a remedial investigation to prevent, mitigate, or remedy the problem. It also assures Simplot will pay oversight costs incurred by the agencies or Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation.
The agreement stipulates that within 60 days of its effective date, Simplot shall establish and maintain: financial security in the amount of $1.5 million as a surety bond guaranteeing work performance; one or more irrevocable letters of credit equaling the total estimated cost of work; a trust agreement establishing a fund containing the estimated cost of work with terms and conditions acceptable to the Forest Service; and/or a written guarantee to perform the work executed in favor of the Forest Service by one or more parent corporations or subsidiaries or unrelated corporations with a substantial business relationship with Simplot.
Simplot must also secure general liability insurance and make deposits for future response costs with federal agencies and the Shosone-Bannocks.
If Simplot fails to meet the agreement’s requirements, it shall pay penalties of $1,000 per day per violation for the first 14 days of noncompliance, $3,000 per day per violation from the 15th to 30th day of noncompliance, and $7,500 per day per violation for the 31st day of noncompliance and thereafter.
On Aug. 4, U.S. Magistrate Mikel Williams denied a request by environmental groups to impose a permanent injunction that would have blocked the mine’s expansion on the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. His ruling gave Simplot authorization to expand onto two parcels before the existing mine’s ore was exhausted.
Since 1984, the open pit mine has supplied about 1.5 million annual tons of phosphate ore to Simplot’s fertilizer plant near Pocatello, Idaho. More than 500 workers are employed at the plant and mine.
“The consent agreement is the latest commitment that Simplot has made to fully investigate and take appropriate action to address selenium releases from historic mining practices,” Simplot spokesman David Cuoio said, noting this is the third agreement that Simplot has entered with the federal government pertaining to Smoky Canyon’s remediation.
Selenium poisoning has killed sheep, horses, and most recently cattle grazing on vegetation near phosphate mines in the region. Selenium, a byproduct of phosphate, can leach and be absorbed by plants. Trace elements can be beneficial as a micronutrient, but larger volumes can be toxic.
“This latest agreement provides for additional investigation of the extent of selenium contamination, the analysis of what risks the selenium presents to the environment, and what actions may be needed,” Cuoio said.
“Simplot continues to pursue actions that reduce the potential for selenium releases into the environment, such as the Pole Canyon overburden project, which addressed the largest potential source of selenium to the environment at Smoky Canyon.”
Under the agreement, parties recognize it has been negotiated in good faith and Simplot’s actions in compliance with it do not constitute an admission of liability. A notice of violation will not be issued, and Simplot does not concede nor waive its right to object to any authority the U.S., IDEQ, or tribes may exert relating to the mine site.
In a January 2003 agreement with the Forest Service, EPA, and IDEQ, Simplot agreed to a site investigation and engineering evaluation at the Smoky Canyon Mine site. In August 2005, the Forest Service accepted Simplot’s plan to divert Pole Canyon Creek around a cross valley fill.
EPA, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services, BLM, IDEQ, and the Shoshone-Bannocks have acted as support agencies since July 2000. The BLM issues and administers mineral leases. Simplot holds five federal phosphate leases and a Forest Service special use permit on the site.
Both the mine and overburden disposal areas are within an area where the tribes assert the right to hunt and fish under the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868. The agreement does not include private land where Simplot has disposed of tailings from its milling operations associated with the mine. Overburden placed in piles or previously mined parts of a pit contain shale with high levels of selenium and hazardous metals, which have been detected above background concentrations.
Samplings conducted by Simplot, the Forest Service, BLM, contractors, and the University of Idaho indicate selenium and other hazardous substances are being leached from waste rock at the mine site into the environment, impacting vegetation and surface water, the agreement states.
“Surface water data from 2006 and 2007 indicate that the area’s extent of contamination has increased to include South Fork Sage Creek Springs and that the concentration of selenium at Hoopes Springs has been steadily increasing…,” it says.