Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Rare Earth Mine meets July 23rd and 24th in Upton and Sundance


ALERT ON RARE EARTH MINE, SUNDANCE WYOMING

Public Information Meetings on Proposed Rare Earth Mine on Black Hills National Forest
"Bear Lodge Project Community Update",
Sponsored by mining company promoting mine.
  
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Upton Middle School Auditorium
802 Juniper Street, Upton
  
 Wednesday, July 24, 2013
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Sundance High School Auditorium
8th and Cleveland, Sundance


Rare Element Resources LINKS 


            http://www.bearlodgeproject.com

            Mining Plan of Operations


Discussion:

            The company is proposing digging a large open pit mine with extraction on Black Hills National Forest lands and some waste rock dumping in adjacent Section 16. Section 16 was State land, but the Wyoming sold it to the Company, we believe in exchange for land at Moskee, Wyoming.  The impacted area will be at Bull Hill, north of Sundance, Wyoming and north of Warren Peak. Mill is proposed at Upton near railroad. (Town of Upton is located within Thunder Basin National Grasslands exterior boundaries).
           Issues include: air and ground/surface water pollution and ground water removal 
as well as scenic/recreational and biodiversity impacts to public land, as well as traffic and social/cultural impacts etc. Radioactive elements are associated with rare earths, so pollution issues with rare earth mines, will also include radiation concerns. Cheyenne River (mill site) and Belle Fourche River  (extraction site) drainages would be impacted. 

Forest Service  (Bear Lodge Ranger District) scoping on an environmental impact statement is expected in late October or November.

PHAS may plan a meeting about this in future, contact Nancy if interested in such meeting.

Contacts:
For info from:  Forest Service, Hillarie L Jackson hljackson@fs.fed.us : (307) 283-1361 fax: (307) 283-3727.
For info from:  Mining Company - visit their web site links above.
For info from: Wyoming Dept. Environmental Quality, Mark Taylor (307) 673-9337 ext.223, mark.taylor@wyo.gov,
For info from Prairie Hills Audubon Society - call Nancy Hilding 605-787-6779, nhilding@rapidnet.com
For SD Clean Water Alliance info:  http://www.sdcleanwateralliance.org/RareEarthElements.html


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