[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 31, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-21460]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 31, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[NV-010-94-4191-01]
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement and To Conduct Scoping for the Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc.
Betze Project in Elko and Eureka Counties, NV
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement and to conduct scoping for the Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc.
Betze Project in Elko and Eureka Counties, Nevada.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management, Elko
District Office, prepared an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) with
respect to Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc.'s (Barrick's) Betze Project.
The Final EIS and Record of Decision for the Betze Project were issued
on June 10, 1991. The Final EIS included a description of the
environmental impacts projected to result from groundwater pumping
conducted by Barrick to lower the local groundwater elevations below
the proposed Betze mining operations. Since the Betze EIS was issued,
Barrick's implementation of the pumping operations and its monitoring
of groundwater elevations have provided new information regarding the
pumping requirements and potential environmental impacts of pumping
operations. The Bureau has determined that a Supplemental EIS should be
prepared to assess the potential environmental impacts of the pumping
and water management operations associated with Barrick's mining
operations.
DATES: Written comments on the scoping process will be accepted through
October 3, 1994. Public scoping meetings will be held beginning at 7:00
p.m. on September 14, 1994, at the Bureau of Land Management, Elko
District Office, 3900 E. Idaho St., Elko, Nevada, and beginning at 7:00
p.m. on September 15, 1994, at the Holiday Inn, 1000 E. 6th St., Reno,
Nevada.
ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning the scope of the supplemental
analysis should be sent to Nick Rieger, Betze Project Leader, Bureau of
Land Management, P.O. Box 831, Elko, Nevada 89803. Written comments may
be sent to the above address on or before the close of business on
October 3, 1994.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:For additional information, write to
the above address or call Nick Rieger (702) 753-0200.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to a Plan of Operations
submitted in April 1989, the Bureau of Land Management, Elko District
Office, prepared an EIS with respect to Barrick's Betze Project. The
Draft EIS for the Betze Project was issued on January 11, 1991, and a
sixty-day public comment period, including two public meetings,
followed. The Final EIS and Record of Decision for the Betze Project
were issued on June 10, 1991. The Betze Project includes the
development of Barrick's existing Post Pit laterally and deeper, to
completely mine the Betze Deposit. Because the Betze Deposit is located
below the elevation of the local groundwater system, Barrick must pump
groundwater from the mine area to lower the groundwater table below
mining operation levels. The Betze EIS described the projected pumping
and water management operations and assessed the environmental impacts
of those operations.
Since the Betze EIS was issued, Barrick through operational
experience and monitoring, has acquired additional information
regarding the pumping rates required to lower groundwater elevations in
the mining area. This includes the nature and extent of the rock type
from which groundwater is being pumped and the hydrologic connection
between the groundwater being pumped and surface waters in the vicinity
of Barrick's mining operations. This new information indicates that the
highly transmissive area from which the groundwater is being pumped is
more extensive than projected at the time the Betze EIS was prepared.
Consequently, the volume of water pumped and the rate of pumping is
greater than originally predicted and analyzed. Barrick's monitoring
program also indicates that groundwater levels are being drawn down
over a larger area than projected at the time of the Betze EIS. The
monitoring program has also provided additional data regarding the
potential hydrologic connection between the groundwater being pumped
and surface waters in the vicinity of Barrick's operations.
Barrick is presently pumping approximately 68,500 gallons per
minute (gpm) to lower the groundwater table. Barrick uses approximately
2,000 to 4,000 gpm for mining and milling operations. Water not used in
mining and milling flows into the TS Reservoir which is located about
four miles southwest of the Betze Pit. During half the year about
15,000 gpm is used for irrigation of alfalfa fields located down
gradient from the reservoir in Boulder Valley. Another 20,000 gpm is
injected or infiltrated into the groundwater in a portion of Boulder
Valley. The bulk of the remaining water in the reservoir infiltrates
into the water table through a high-angle fault located within the
impoundment area. As a result, the water table beneath the reservoir
has risen and mounded in Boulder Valley. This mounding has also created
several springs and associated wetlands in the valley where the
groundwater has intercepted the surface.
The Bureau is proposing to contract with a third party for the
preparation of a supplement to the Betze EIS that would describe the
new information gathered since the Betze EIS was prepared and would
describe any changes in the projected environmental impacts as a result
of the new information. In addition, the Supplemental EIS will also
assess the cumulative impacts of groundwater pumping to lower
elevations and for longer periods of time associated with mining of
other nearby deposits within the area from which groundwater would be
pumped, e.g., the Deep Post and Meikle. It is anticipated that the
Supplemental EIS will focus attention on five issues of special concern
to the BLM: livestock operations, threatened and endangered species,
wetland and riparian vegetation, wildlife and fisheries resources, and
surface and groundwater resources including the potential effects from
Barrick's operations on the Humboldt River.
The Betze EIS Record of Decision included stipulations requiring
Barrick to monitor the effect of its pumping operations on groundwater
and also included stipulations specifically intended to mitigate the
potential impacts of Barrick's groundwater pumping operations. The
stipulations also included a requirement that Barrick establish a
$1,000,000.00 fund for monitoring and mitigation of possible adverse
environmental impacts that were not specifically identified in the
Betze EIS. The Supplemental EIS will evaluate a range of mitigating
measures to minimize these environmental impacts and to assure that
Barrick's operations do not result in undue or unnecessary degradation
of public lands. The special fund described above would be applied to
any additional mitigation subsequently identified in the Supplemental
EIS.
It is important that those interested in this project participate
in the scoping and commenting process. To achieve the best possible
analysis, comments should be as specific as possible. The tentative
project schedule is as follows:
Begin Public Comment Period--September 2, 1994
Issuance of Draft Supplemental EIS--August 30, 1995
File Final Supplemental EIS--December 29, 1995
Comments on the scope of the supplemental EIS should be directed to
the attention of Nick Rieger, Betze Project Leader at the Bureau of
Land Management, Elko District Office, P.O. Box 831, Elko, Nevada
89803. Comments must be received by the close of business on October 3,
1994.
Dated: August 25, 1994.
Rodney Harris,
District Manager.
[FR Doc. 94-21460 Filed 8-30-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-HC-M
