Marysville mine receives lengthy ‘deficiency review’ from DEQ
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By EVE BYRON Independent Record | Posted: Thursday, March 22, 2012 12:03 am | (0) Comments
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State officials responded Wednesday with a 40-page “deficiency review” to RX Gold and Silver’s application to operate the historic Drumlummon gold mine near Marysville.
The deficiency review is a standard step in the permit application process, according to Warren McCullough, the Environmental Management Bureau chief for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. However, he noted that although no two mines are comparable, a recent deficiency review for an operating permit in Butte was only 12 pages long.
Part of the reason for the lengthy review is that by law, this is DEQ’s only opportunity to raise potential issues with reopening the Drumlummon, McCullough said. Future reviews of the application can only discuss items raised in this document.
“This is really kind of a guidance document that says ‘Fill in the holes, think about this, or you may have overlooked that,’” McCullough said. “Think of it as tough love. This may appear to be picky, but this is our one chance to raise issues and it’s a fairly complex situation. We want to raise every possible issue so everything can be addressed.
Darryl James, a spokesman for RX, said the company anticipated the lengthy review, and looks forward to working with DEQ on the issues raised.
“We fully expected through this permitting process that there would be several rounds of review and comment and issues DEQ would ask us to address further,” James said. “It’s not only common, but it’s our understanding that DEQ has never approved the first submittal of an operating permit application.
“We expect the issues noted in the DEQ’s comments can and will be addressed efficiently and collaboratively and do not alter our ability to obtain the operating permit, nor our ability to move forward with current mine operations.”
Gold mining operations began at the Drumlummon site in the 1880s, and it became one of the largest underground mines in the West, producing gold and silver worth millions of dollars. It was last mined in the 1950s, then closed until RX began exploration work in 2008.
Currently the underground mine, which employs about 120 people, is operating under a Small Miner Exclusion permit.
James said RX only received the deficiency review document on Wednesday, so he wasn’t able to comment on its specifics.
But McCullough, whose staff compiled the review, said it mainly boils down to one issue.
“Water, water and water,” McCullough said. “So many issues there are related to water quality and water quantity … for both surface and groundwater.”
Along with being next door to Marysville, the mine sits adjacent to Silver Creek. McCullough said officials have multiple concerns based on those two facts.
For example, in order to reach the lower levels of the mine, RX is pumping, treating and removing water that has filled the tunnels for decades. That appears to be impacting residential wells in Marysville, with RX already replacing four of them.
The deficiency review notes that DEQ would like more information about scientific models used to project future impacts to groundwater.
Mine dewatering also has resulted in the drying up of an observation well, and McCullough said the agency would like to see more of those installed and drilled deeper.
The close proximity to Silver Creek is a concern for DEQ. The “toe” of the waste rock dump appears to encroach on the creek and recent tests have turned up nitrate concentrations in the surface water. Nitrates often are part of the residue left over from blasting in mines.
“This is one place we’re asking them to think about it,” McCullough said. “There are other blasting products that can be used, although they can be more expensive.”
The DEQ staff also looked at other potential environmental impacts. It noted that there are frequent exceedances of aquatic life criteria for lead, copper and mercury, and periodic exceedances for arsenic, iron and cadmium.
They want documentation to back up RX’s comment that mine tailings are not acid-generating and won’t lead to acid mine drainage, which often has been a problem at other mines. They want a map showing the permit boundary, as well as one showing the underground workings in relation to the surface features.
They want to know about the structural geology of the area and the local seismic activity, with McCullough noting that one complaint about blasting actually involves a small earthquake in the area.
They’ve requested socioeconomic data on the impacts to Marysville and the residents, although McCullough said those issues probably will be dealt with in a different process.
“We are required by MEPA (the Montana Environmental Policy Act) to disclose potential impacts, even though we can’t do anything about it,” McCullough said. “We can summarize and disclose the impacts but that’s something that’s addressed by the county.”
The DEQ also wants additional information about operating hours, noise, traffic, air quality, testing for asbestos, and whether RX has built a septic system for employees, as well as the location of mine features like the mill-feed stockpile, soil stockpiles, buffer areas and impacts to wetlands.
McCullough notes that public comments will be gathered during the upcoming environmental impact statement process.
James said that as RX moves forward with the permitting process, it also will continue to talk with residents to try to mitigate any concerns.
Darren Blasutti, president and chief executive officer, added that while the company may have made some missteps initially, he feels RX is well-positioned to move the mine forward toward full production.
“We intend to be in Montana for a long time, and endeavor to be responsible corporate citizens,” Blasutti said. “…We sought the operating permit because we wanted to be responsive to concerns expressed by DEQ and other area officials about surface disturbance. This permit application is just one piece of the overall operational picture, and we have seasoned mining professionals on our team that will guide us through this process and ultimately secure the necessary permits.”
Reporter Eve Byron: 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com
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