NRC weighs issues of uranium mine expansion
By GEORGE LEDBETTER, Record Editor Monday, January 28, 2008
A three member panel from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing and safety panel is expected to rule in about a month on whether objections to the proposed expansion of the Crow Butte Resources uranium mine near Crawford will get a formal NRC hearing.
At a meeting in Chadron Wednesday, Jan. 16, the panel heard arguments on whether two individuals and three organizations have ‘standing’ to contest the mine’s plan.
The three administrative law judges also listened to lawyers argue about the merits of six ‘contentions’ that have been raised concerning the expansion project.
Objections to the 2,100 acre expansion of the existing in situ leach (ISL) mine southwest of Crawford are based largely on claims that mining endangers water quality in the adjacent area and as far away as the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Seeking to block the mine expansion are Tom Cook of Chadron and Debra White Plume of Pine Ridge, S.D., the Slim Buttes Agricultural Development Corp., Owe Aku, a non-profit Oglala-Lakota cultural group from Pine Ridge, and the Western Nebraska Resources Council.
Canadian-owned Cameco Corp. owns and operates the Crow Butte mine, which recovers uranium from underground sandstone layers by pumping a solution of water and bicarbonate into the ore body, then pumping out the solution and recovering the dissolved uranium. The existing mine, which has been in operation since 1991, produces about 800,000 pounds of ‘yellowcake’ uranium each year. The material is used in the nuclear fuel industry.
The mine’s proposed expansion lies about a half mile north of Crawford. The company said in its permit application that the new area would yield 500,000 to 600,000 pounds of uranium oxide per year, and be active for about 11 years.
The people and groups opposing the mine have an interest in the issue because they rely on underground water supplies, which could be contaminated by the mine’s expansion, said David Frankel, attorney for Tom Cook, the Slim Buttes development group and the Western Nebraska Resources Council. Cook lives about 20 miles from the Crow Butte mine, Frankel said, and can see Crow Butte from his home. The family gardens planted by members of the Slim Buttes Agricultural Development Corp are 30 to 40 miles away from the mine, he said. “Water does travel,” Frankel said. “If there is mining that contaminates well water, that defeats the purpose of the organization.”
For members of Owe Aku, the purity and quality of water are significant because of the importance of water to Lakota culture, said attorney Bruce Ellison.
The possibility of water contamination exists because of fractures in the underground layers of rock that allow intermingling of the Chadron aquifer, where water for mining is drawn, with the Brule and and High Plains aquifers, which provide drinking and irrigation water in the region, including on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation, the attorneys said.
“There is mixing of the aquifers, said Ellison. “If there is underground contamination, it might take years to affect the Pine Ridge reservation. You can’t just look at today, you have to look at generations.”
But attorneys for the NRC and for Crow Butte disputed the contention. The Chadron aquifer is separated from other water bearing layers by 100 to 200 feet of impermeable material, and the Pine Ridge Reservation is far from the mine, said NRC staff attorney Marcia Simon. “You are talking 20 to 60 miles. That’s a very long distance,” she said. “The petitioners have to show plausible harm.”
There is no connection between the aquifers, and flow rate in the Chadron aquifer is only 10 feet per year, said Tyson Smith, attorney for Crow Butte Resources. In addition, the mine’s operation is designed to prevent water contamination and monitoring wells insure that any ‘excursions’ are detected and taken care of, he said.
“Individuals living 40 to 50 miles away can’t be affected,” Smith said. “Testing determined the aquifers are hydrologically separate.”
To support their arguments, the Ellison and Frankel offered a statement by Chadron State College adjunct geology teacher Hannan LaGarry that said fractures in the underground layers of rock do allow intermingling of water from the different aquifers. They also produced a letter from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to Crow Butte Resources that challenged some of the data provided in the mine’s ‘Request for Aquifer Exemption.’
Attorneys for the NRC and the mine said they were unable to respond to those documents, however, because they were only introduced on the day of the hearing.
Besides objections concerning water quality, those opposing the mine expansion contend: that a prehistoric Indian camp on the site hasn’t been properly researched and documented; that plans to truck uranium laden material between the expansion site and the existing mine create a potential for accidents and terrorist attack; foreign ownership of the mine provides no assurance of supplies for U.S. energy needs; and that other communities besides Crawford should share in the economic benefits of the mining.
The audience at Wednesday’s hearing included a large contingent of young people from the Pine Ridge reservation, as well as two tribal leaders, Joe American Horse and Oliver Red Cloud.
In statements to the NRC judges, the two chiefs said they are concerned about water quality, and that they also believe treaties between the Lakota and the U.S. government in the 1800s give the tribe rights to land and minerals in the area. “This water still belongs to Lakota people,” said Red Cloud.
Administrative law judge Ann Marshall Young, who is presiding over the hearing, said that the panel would take the arguments under advisement and issue decisions later. She asked the attorneys to prepare briefs on several issues, including the treaty rights issue raised by the Lakota chiefs.
Depending on the panel’s rulings, there could additional hearings on the expansion plan before a final decision is reached, said Crow Butte mine manager Jim Stokey.
Similar hearings were held at Fort Robinson State park when the mine obtained its initial permit from the NRC, a process that took about two years, Stokey said.
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Lakota chief Joeseph American Horse speaks about the expansion of the Crow Butte uranium mine. Seated in front is Tom Cook, one of the people raising objections to the project.
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