The Bureau of Land Management has sent signals that the strong public opposition to open pit mining in Conglomerate Mesa has been noted. While nothing is officially confirmed yet, a BLM press release indicates that there’s a new “preferred alternative” for the project that’s significantly better than the previous “preferred alternative.” Highlights include less disturbance, no new roads, fewer drill sites, reduced water usage and constant Tribal monitoring.
A more detailed summary of improvements includes:
- Overall disturbance reduced:
- Disturbance significantly reduced from 13 acres to 0.48 acres
- No new roads or overland routes to be used
- 30 drill sites reduced to 22
- 76 drill holes instead of 120
- Helicopter will land in drill pads, or on wooden platforms on drill pads in steep terrain
- 0.18 acres of new disturbance within Conglomerate Mesa Area of Critical Environmental Concern
- Reduced water consumption – reduced to 10,175 gallons/55 gal/day
- Helicopter access
- 1-3 round-trips from Lone Pine daily or 555 round-trips for the project
- 41,625 gallons of jet-fuel, with 52 gallons stored on drill pads
- Flying only during daylight hours
- Tribal monitors required at all times
- Traditional Cultural Place recommendation
While we’d prefer to see no exploratory drilling in this sensitive area, we’re pleased to see these changes. Next up, we’ll need to see an official notice of the new preferred alternative and a Plan of Operations or reclamation plan that matches what we are now being told is the preferred alternative so we can fully assess the new preferred alternative.
Photo Credit: Neal Nurmi
