Record of decision amendment 009 : underground valley crossing and mining Stillwater Mining Company environmental impact statement, Stillwater County PDF
Preview Record of decision amendment 009 : underground valley crossing and mining Stillwater Mining Company environmental impact statement, Stillwater County
622.3424 TMENTOFENVIRONMENTALQUALITY E30RDAU RECLAMATIONDIVISION Smu\ 1996 ,,,,, 30864 100224065 MARCRACICOT,GOVERNOR 1625ELEVENTHAVENUE STATE OF MONTANA (F4A06X)(444046-)2404744-1923 HELENA,MONTAPNOAB5O9X62200-11660m1 April 4, 1996 Dear Reader: Enclosed is a Record of Decision for Stillwater Mining Company Underground Valley Crossing and Mining Project. If you have any guestions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Sandra J. 01sen, Chief Hard Rock Bureau Reclamation Division JG/fo Enclosure "ANEQUALOPPORTUNITYEMPLOYER" RECORDOFDECISION Amendment009 UndergroundValleyCrossingandMining StillwaterMiningCompany EnvironmentalImpactStatement StillwaterCounty MontanaDepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality I. INTRODUCTION ThisrecordofdecisiondocumentstheMontanaDepartmentofEnvironmental Quality's(DEQ)approvaloftheamendmentforrevisionofStillwaterMiningCompany's (SMC)operatingplanforaplatinum-palladiummineonpatentedandunpatentedlandswithin theCusterNationalForest(CNF). Theareacoveredbytheplanofoperationsencompasses a1,233-acrepermitareainSections15through23,_and27inT5S,R15E,StillwaterCounty, Montana. ' ThearealiesinNationalForestSystem(NFS)andprivatelands. The1,233-acre permitareaconsistsof775acresofNFSlands,332acresofpatentedlandscontrolledby SMC,and126acresoflandspatentedbytheMouatEstateandcontrolledbySMC. Mostof theundergroundminingoperationsisonNFSlands,whilethemajorityofthesurface facilitiesarelocatedonpatentedlands. PlatinumandpalladiumoreareminedfromtheStillwaterComplex,theonlyknown economicsourceofthesemineralsinNorthAmerica. ThiscomplexextendsfromnearNye, Montana,totheFroze-to-DeathCreekareaoftheMainBoulderRiver,adistanceofabout 27miles. Miningofthiscomplexhaspreviouslybeenpermittedattheexistingminesitenear Nye,alongtheStillwaterRiver. AdditionalmininghasbeenpermittedintheEastBoulder RiverValleyapproximately11milessouthofMcLeod,Montana(USFS&DEQ, 1992),at thewesternendofthedeposit. Thepurposeoftheproposedpermitrevisionistoconstructahaulagewayunderthe StillwaterRiverand,followingadditionaldelineationoftheorebody,tomineunderthe river. ThemajorelementsofSMC'sproposalevaluatedintheEISarethepotentialfor subsidenceandimpactstosurfaceandgroundwaters. TheMontanaDepartmentofEnvironmentalQualitydeterminedthattheprojectmay significantlyaffectthequalityofthehumanenvironment. Asaresult,theDEQhasprepared anenvironmentalimpactstatementpursuanttotheMontanaEnvironmentalPolicyAct (MEPA), 1971. SMCUndergroundValleyCrossingandMiningRecordofDecision 1 TheFinalEnvironmentalImpactStatement(EIS)describestheproposedactionsanda numberofalternativestotheproposedactions. Italsotierstothe1992EISforAmendment 008,describestheenvironmenttobeaffectedanddisclosesthepotentialenvironmentalcon- sequencesofimplementingtheproposedactionandalternativestotheproposedaction. The EISwaspreparedincooperationwiththeCusterNationalForest(CNF)andisonfileand availableattheBeartoothRangerDistrictinRedLodge,Montana,theCusterForest Supervisor'sOfficeinBillings,Montana,andtheDepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality's officesinHelena,Montana. ThisEISwasdevelopedundertheimplementingregulationsof theMontanaEnvironmentalPolicyActs(ARM26.2.628-663),theMontanaMetalMine ReclamationAct(82-4-301,MCA,etseq.),theMontanaWaterQualityAct(75-5-101,MCA, etseq.)andotherapplicablestatutes. H. ISSUESANDCONCERNSANDPUBLICPARTICIPATION SincestartingtheanalysesoftheproposedactioninApril1995,theMontana DepartmentofEnvironmentalQualitygatheredcomments,suggestionsandconcernsfromthe publicinresponsetonoticesoftheproposal. Theconcernsexpressedinthecomments, alongwiththeconcernsoftheDepartmentformedthescopeoftheEISanalysis. Acomplete recordofscopingconcernsisonfilewithDEQ\ ChapterIoftheFinalEISlistsissuesand concernsbroughtupduringthepublicscopingprocess. Theissuesandconcernsraisedby thepublicduringscopingwereused,inadditiontoagencyconcerns,inthedevelopmentof alternativesandwereaddressedintheanalysesfortheEIS. ApublichearingwasheldinAbsarokee,Montana,onNovember27, 1995,toaccept publiccommentsontheDraftEIS. TheDEQreceivedcommentlettersaswellasoral commentspresentedatthepublichearing. Alistingofcommentorsandcommentsfromthe lettersandtranscriptsarepresentedinChapterVoftheFinalEIS. Majorconcernsexpressedbythepublicfocusedonquantityandqualityofsurface andgroundwater,traffic,andsubsidence. Revisionsandadditionshavebeenmadetothe textintheFinalEIStoaddresstheseconcernswhereappropriate. m. ALTERNATIVES Fromtheseissuesandconcerns,alternativesweredevelopedandanalyzedto determinetheeffectoftheprojectandtoidentifymitigationsnecessarytoprotectthehuman environment. ThealternativesarediscussedingreaterdetailintheFinalEIS,ChapterII. TheNoActionAlternativeevaluatedtheeffectofcontinuingtomineunderthe existingpermit,usingtheexistingroadcrossingasproductioncontinuestoincreasetothe approvedlevelof2,000tonsperday(TPD)(OperatingPermit00118,Amendment008). TheplanproposedbySMC,toconstructahaulagewayandminereservesunderthe river,wasevaluatedastheproposedaction. Therewouldbenoincreaseinthecapacityof SMCUndergroundValleyCrossingandMiningRecordofDecision 2 theexistingtailingimpoundment,nomodificationstothereclamationplan,andnoincrease intotaldisturbance. Totalemploymentwouldalsoremainatnomorethan525employees. Amodificationoftheproposedplanwasevaluatedtodeterminetheeffectofadding twoconditionstoSMC'sproposal. Theseconditionsincludedexplicitlyprohibitingrecovery oforeinthecrownpillarandrequiringSMCtousetheproposedcrownpillardesign standardsforminingactivitiesconductedunderothermajordrainages. TheDepartmentalsoevaluatedsuggestionsthatabridgeorconveyorbeusedto transportoreinsteadofahaulageway. Thesealternativesweredismissedbecausetheydid notfulfillthepurposeandneedfortheproject. IV. DECISION DEQevaluatedSMC'sproposalanddeterminedpotentialenvironmental consequences. ItismydecisiontoapproveSMC'sproposedplanofoperations, incorporatingadditionalpermitconditions. Allotherplansandcommitmentscontainedinthe existingpermitasamended,remainineffect,exceptasspecificallymodifiedbythe stipulationsdescribedbelow. * OnlyspecificmodificationstoSMC'sproposalaredescribedhere,followedbya shortrationaleforeachmitigationormonitoringrequirement. Thesemodificationswillbe stipulatedintheDEQ'spermitamendmentforthisrevision. Inaddition,stipulations attachedtoSMC'sexistingmineapprovalsremaininfullforceandeffect. ThusSMCwould continuetoabidebythemitigationmeasuressetforthinOperatingPermit00118as amended. SMCwould,alsocontinuetofollowBestManagementPracticesoftheCNF,as establishedintheU.S.ForestService"SoilandWaterConservationPracticesHandbook," May1988,FSH2509.22. V. PERMITMODIFICATIONS Thefollowingpermitmodificationstomitigateandmonitoreffectswillbeattachedto theagencies'approvalsofSMC'sproposaltoincreaseoreproductionintheStillwaterRiver Valley. 1. SMCmaynot,atanytime,mineorremoverockfromthecrownpillarunderthe StillwaterRiver. 2. SMCmustadoptcomparablecrownpillardesignstandards,monitoring,andmitigation forallorerecoverywhichoccursunderanyareaoverlainbyorcrossedbyWestForkofthe StillwaterRiver,CathedralCreek,andNyeCreek. Replacementpages,reflectingthis standardmustbeincorporatedintoSMC'splanofoperationsonfileattheDEQandthe CNFwithin30daysofpermitissuance. SMCUndergroundValleyCrossingandMiningRecordofDecision 3 J VI. RATIONALEFORTHEDECISION A. ResponsetoPublicIssuesandConcerns Thefollowingnarrativeidentifiesspecificpublicandagencyconcerns,permit conditionsadoptedtoaddressthoseconcernsandthesupportingrationale. Ifanynewplan submittedbySMCasaresultofthestipulationsdiscussedaboveresultsinaproposalwhich isoutsidethescopeofDEQ'sandCNF'senvironmentalanalysis,thenfurtherNEPA/MEPA reviewmaybenecessary. 1. SMCmaynot,atanytime,mineorremoverockfromthecrownpillarunderthe StillwaterRiver. Thisconditionhasbeenaddedtothisamendmenttoexplicitlyassurethatthecrown pillarundertheStillwaterRiverwouldnoteverbesubjecttominingorrockremoval. This conditionaddressespublicconcernregardingpotentialimpactstotheStillwaterRiverfrom unanticipatedsubsidence. 2. SMCmustadoptcomparablecrownpillardesignstandards,monitoring,andmitigation forallorerecoverywhichoccursunderanyareaoverlainbyorcrossedbyWestForkofthe StillwaterRiver,CathedralCreek,andNyeCreek. Replacementpages,reflectingthis standardmustbeincorporatedintoSMC'splanofoperationsonfileattheDEQandthe CNFwithin30daysofpermitissuance. Thisconditionhasbeenaddedtoensurethatequallystringentdesignstandardsare usedforminingunderorinthevicinityofothermajorsurfacewaters. AsSMCcontinuesto minethereef,theextentofminingislimitedbythesizeofpermittedfacilities,andbythe locationofmineralization. Sincemineralizationoccursunderothermajorsurfacewaters throughoutthereef,itislogicaltoprovideacomparabledegreeofprotection. B. ConsistencywiththeApplicablePlanningDocuments ThegoalsandobjectivesoftheCusterForestPlanareapplicabletothisprojectas discussedinChapterIofthe1992EISforAmendment008. Theproposedplanasmodified bytheabovepermitconditions,willremainconsistentwiththeCNFForestPlan managementgoals. Nootherstateorfederalplanningeffortsareapplicabletotheproposedminearea. C. CumulativeEffects ThecumulativeeffectsofthisprojectinconjunctionwithexistingForestService activitiesandpossiblefutureactivitieswereanalyzedinthe1992EISonpages118, 149, 154, 156through 160, 163, 164, 171, 173through 176,and 178. Theextentofthisanalysis SMCUndergroundValleyCrossingandMiningRecordofDecision 4
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