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Department of Ecology News Release - Sept. 4, 2003
03-174
YAKIMA - State and federal agencies have begun examining what effect a proposed underground gold mine and mill will have on the surrounding environment near Chesaw in Okanogan County.
Crown Resources has submitted to the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) and U.S. Forest Service a plan to extract approximately 1.2 million ounces of gold from beneath Buckhorn Mountain over a 10-year period.
In the 1990s, the agencies prepared an environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzing a proposal for an open-pit mine at the same site. A more focused supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) will address specific environmental issues raised by the new project.
Crown Resources proposes to mine gold and silver ore using underground mining practices and process it at an off-site mill at the rate of 1,500 tons per day. The mining and milling operation would cover some 135 acres - 25 acres on public lands and 110 on private lands. According to the plan, most underground openings would be backfilled during the mining operation.
The environmental review will identify actions that must be taken to compensate for environmental harm and will identify what permits will be required for operating the mine and mill under the new plan.
During this "scoping" period, the agencies are accepting written comments on what issues should be addressed in the SEIS. Workshops and hearings also will be scheduled during the environmental review process.
Written comments will be accepted until Oct. 20 and may be addressed to Derek Sandison, Washington Department of Ecology, 15 W. Yakima Ave., Suite 200, Yakima, Wash., 98902. E-mail comments may be made to dsan461@ecy.wa.gov.
A copy of Crown Resources' plan of operations may be viewed online at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/okanogan/ (in the bulletin board section).
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Media contacts: Joye Redfield-Wilder, Department of Ecology, (509)
575-2610
Debbie Kelly, Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forest, (509) 826-3396
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
