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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 22, 1997
97-156
Contact: Jani Gilbert, Public Information Officer, (509) 456-4464,
Pager: (509) 622-1289
Pat Spurgin, Central Regional Office Director, (509) 457-7120
Yakima, WA - The Department of Ecology has approved several permits and one draft permit for Battle Mountain Gold Company's proposed Crown Jewel Mine in northeast Okanogan County. These are the first of many permits for the project that require decisions from Ecology.
Friday, Ecology approved five dam safety construction permits for impounding structures that hold water, and two construction storm water permits to protect water quality. In addition, a draft permit was released for review, addressing the protection of air quality during construction and operation of the mine.
The dam safety construction permits are required in order to construct water and mine tailings holding structures at the site.
"Dam safety permits are required any time a controlling structure is built for storing 10 or more acre-feet of water, waste or mine tailings," explained Jerald LaVassar, environmental engineer. "The plans and specifications were prepared by a qualified professional engineer and were reviewed and approved by Ecology engineers in order to protect both people and property."
The construction storm water permits require that the company follow a storm water pollution prevention plan. The plan provides for intercepting and treating runoff from construction areas to prevent it from polluting nearby creeks and streams. Storm water permits are required when more than five acres of land are disturbed by construction activities.
The Battle Mountain Gold Company put the project through State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review as well, to ensure that environmental protection plans were adequate. The final Environmental Impact Statement was released early this year. At the same time, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management released their Record of Decision that identified the alternative they selected for the way the mine is to operate. That alternative consists of an open pit mine that would operate 24 hours a day for about 10 years; including construction, operation and reclamation. The mine would employ about 144 people during operations, and produce an average of 3,000 tons of ore per day.
Ecology's draft air quality permit comes with a 30-day public comment period beginning on September 25, 1997. A public hearing will be held in Oroville on October 15 at 7:00 p.m. to get public testimony on the draft air permit. This testimony and other public comments received by October 27, 1997 will be taken into consideration when Ecology makes a decision on the final air quality permit.
"The draft air quality permit contains conditions on the operation of the mine to minimize air emissions," said Sue Billings, air quality supervisor in Ecology's central regional office. "It places conditions and emission limits on certain construction, operation, and reclamation activities at the mine and mill."
"Modern air pollution control technology will be required to control pollution emissions from various stacks and vents," Billings added.
Dust control plans will address sources of other emissions, such as dust from the mine haul road. The company also must monitor for particulate matter concentrations in the air near the mine.
During milling, the ore will be crushed and metals will be separated from the crushed rock using a cyanide solution in a closed system. The gold is then stripped from the liquid and cast into bars. The remainder of the crushed rock will be treated to destroy the cyanide. Finally, the treated tailings will be deposited in the tailings disposal facility.
All of these permits are among many pending local, state and federal permits required. Besides the air quality, storm water and dam construction permits, other pending permits regulate the amount of water used, different aspects of water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, surface reclamation, facility construction, zoning and public health.
Each permit has its own process by law so that Ecology and other agencies can look carefully at each aspect of the project. The state permits are all being coordinated through a special process, making it easier for governmental agencies, the public and the project proponents to keep track of them.
Ecology has received an environmental performance security for each of these permits as required by recently enacted legislation. The 1994 Metals, Mining and Milling Act states that Ecology may not issue permits until the applicant deposits an acceptable performance security to ensure the environment is protected should problems occur.
Although these permits are the first to be issued by Ecology, permits have been issued by other agencies. First, the Department of Fish and Wildlife issued an hydraulic project approval permit in March of this year to divert water from Myers Creek to the Starrem Reservoir. These permits are designed to ensure fish habitat is not harmed when water diversion structures are built.
Second, the Department of Natural Resources earlier this year approved two forest practices permits. One was issued in April to allow for land clearing at the mine site. The other was issued in August to log an area for the access road.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
