[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 114 (Monday, June 15, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32679-32680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15816]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[CO-017-1610-00]


Notice of Intent To Prepare Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, 
Colorado Sodium Products Development Project.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 
Colorado Sodium Products Development Project (Project), located in Rio 
Blanco County and Garfield County, Colorado.
    The BLM will evaluate the Commercial Mine Plan prepared for the 
Project. The EIS will assess the environmental consequences of Mine 
Plan approval and development of the Project.
    In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the BLM 
will conduct public scoping meetings to solicit comments on potential 
environmental impacts associated with the project. These public scoping 
meetings will be held in two locations:

1. Bureau of Land Management, White River Resource Area Office, 73544 
Highway 64, Meeker, Colorado, on June 24, 1998, at 7:00 p.m.
2. Town Hall Council Chambers, 222 Grand Valley Way, Parachute, 
Colorado, on June 25, 1998 at 7:00 p.m.

    To familiarize the public and interested organizations with the 
likely scope of environmental issues that will be involved, the BLM has 
prepared a Scoping Document for the Colorado Sodium Products 
Development Project. This document includes a list of the various 
environmental/resource issues that will be addressed in the EIS. This 
list has been compiled based on experience gained to date with American 
Soda's test-phase operation in Rio Blanco County and consideration of 
likely environmental impact issues that would be encountered during 
construction and operation of the proposed commercial scale project. 
Copies of the Scoping Document are available at the White River 
Resource Area office in Meeker, Colorado, for public review. 
Alternatively, a copy of the Scoping Document can be requested by mail. 
Copies of the Scoping Document will also be available at the public 
scoping meetings described above. Comments received at the scoping 
meetings or by mail will supplement the issues identified in the 
Scoping Document.

DATES: Comments and recommendations on this Notice of Intent to prepare 
an EIS should be received on or before July 10, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Mr. Larry 
Shults, Natural Resource Specialist, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 
White River Resource Area, 73544 Highway 64, Meeker, CO 81641.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Shults, (970) 878-3601.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: American Soda, L.L.P. (American Soda) 
intends to construct and operate a commercial nahcolite solution mining 
operation at a site in the northcentral portion of the Piceance Creek 
Basin in Rio Blanco County, Colorado. Nahcolite is naturally occurring 
sodium bicarbonate that is found in association with oil shale 
deposits. After the nahcolite is removed from the ground, it would be 
processed into a sodium carbonate solution and transported by a 44-mile 
buried pipeline south to a processing operation to be located at an 
existing industrial site in

[[Page 32680]]

the Parachute Valley in Garfield County, Colorado. There it would be 
further processed to commercial grade sodium carbonate, sodium 
bicarbonate, and other sodium products.
    The project would occur on BLM lands of the White River Resource 
Area and on private lands in Rio Blanco and Garfield Counties, 
Colorado. The proposed solution mine site is contained within Sections 
17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28, and 29 of Township 1 South, Range 97 West of 
the Sixth Prime Meridian (PM), Rio Blanco County, Colorado. It is 
approximately 63 miles north-northeast of Grand Junction, 22 miles 
west-southwest of Meeker, and 29 miles east-southeast of Rangely, 
Colorado. The proposed processing operation would be located on private 
property in Sections 34 and 35 of Township 6 South, Range 96 West of 
the Sixth PM, Garfield County, Colorado, approximately 3 miles 
northwest of the town of Parachute, Colorado.
    The solution mine site and the processing operation site would be 
connected by two parallel, insulated buried pipelines that would run 
east-southeast from the solution mine for approximately 9 miles and 
then generally south along an existing pipeline right-of-way for 
approximately 35 miles to the processing operation. Bulk sodium 
products would be shipped from the processing operation via a 4-mile-
long dedicated rail spur to an interstate rail connection near the town 
of Parachute.
    The solution mining process would require approximately 1 cubic 
foot per second (cfs) of water, including solutions in the product 
pipeline. An existing water right would be used to allow process water 
to be taken from the Colorado River via an existing intake located in 
the river near the town of Parchute. Water would be transported from 
the Colorado River to the proposed solution mine site by a return water 
pipeline paralleling the product pipeline.
    The American Soda commercial mining program is anticipated to 
operate indefinitely. The commercial Mine Plan under development 
addresses the first 30 years of operation, with an initial design basis 
of 1.4 million tons per year (tpy) of nahcolite recovered.

    Dated: June 8, 1998.
John J. Mehlhoff,
Resource Area Manager, Meeker, CO.
[FR Doc. 98-15816 Filed 6-12-98; 8:45 am]
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