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Nuclear commission overrules judge, upholds license for company to mine uranium in southwest South Dakota

Daily Republic, By SETH TUPPER / Rapid City Journal on Feb 6, 2019 RAPID CITY, S.D. — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has decided to uphold a company’s license to mine for uranium near Edgemont, even though a federal judge has declared that the existence of the license without an adequate cultural resources survey is illegal.

The commission’s decision to leave the license in place does not mean mining will immediately begin. Powertech, a subsidiary of Canada-based Azarga Uranium Corp., still needs other permits from local, state and federal agencies. ………

One member of the five-person NRC, Jeff Baran, filed a dissenting opinion. Baran was chagrined that the NRC staff’s practice “has been to issue materials licenses before the completion of contested hearings on environmental matters.” He wrote that the NRC should take the opportunity presented by the Powertech vs. Oglala Sioux Tribe dispute to change that practice.

Otherwise, Baran wrote, the NRC will remain “on course to repeatedly and predictably violate a core requirement of NEPA.”………
A controversial aspect of in situ mining is the eventual injection of the treated wastewater back underground. The Environmental Protection Agency has issued draft permits for up to 4,000 production wells among 14 well fields over the life of the mining operation, but the permits have remained in draft status rather than final status since 2017……… https://www.mitchellrepublic.com/business/energy-and-mining/4567633-nuclear-commission-overrules-judge-upholds-license-company-mine 

February 11, 2019 - Posted by | Legal

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