[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 211 (Thursday, November 1, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61871-61872]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-5437]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 
for Great Salt Lake Minerals Corporation's Solar Evaporation Pond 
Expansion Project Within the Great Salt Lake, Box Elder County, UT

AGENCY: Department of the Army; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Sacramento District, 
will prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Corps 
authorization actions for the proposed Great Salt Lake Minerals Solar 
Evaporation Ponds Expansion project. The overall project purpose is to 
expand extraction capability for potassium at the Great Salt Lake 
Mineral Corporation's facilities. The proposed expansion would add 
approximately 33,000 acres of solar evaporative ponds, impacting 
approximately 30,713.75 acres of waters of the United States, and 
reducing the need to import raw potassium from other sources. The DEIS 
will address impacts such as wildlife habitat, water quality, Great 
Salt Lake water elevations, wetlands, hydrology, cultural resources, 
transportation, endangered species and industry.

DATES: The projected date for public release of the DEIS is October 
2008. Three public scoping meetings will be held. The first scoping 
meeting will be held on November 7, 2007 from 5-9 p.m. The second 
public meeting will be on November 8, 2007 from 5-9 p.m. The third 
meeting will be held on November 14, 2007 from 5-9 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The November 7 meeting will be held at South Davis Junior 
High School, 298 West 2600 South, Bountiful, Utah. The November 8 
meeting will be held at the Ogden Nature Center, 966 W.

[[Page 61872]]

12th Street, Ogden, Utah. The November 14 meeting will be held at the 
Airport Inn Hotel, 2333 W. North Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah. 
Written comments may be mailed to Mr. Jason Gipson, 533 West 2600 
South, Suite 150, Bountiful, Utah 84010. All comments must be received 
on or before December 2, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action 
and the DEIS should be directed to the Corps project manager, Mr. Jason 
Gipson at 801-295-8380 x14, or e-mail at [email protected]. 
Please refer to identification number 200700121.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Great Salt Lake Minerals Corporation (GSLM) 
has applied for Department of the Army authorization under Section 404 
of the Clean Water Act. The project as proposed may also require other 
Federal, State and local authorizations including Utah State Public 
Lands Lease Agreements.
    Great Salt Lake Minerals Corporation currently operates 
approximately 43,000 acres of evaporative ponds located on the east and 
west shores of the Great Salt Lake. A 21,000-acre evaporation facility 
is located on the west shore of the North Arm of the Great Salt Lake 
and a 22,000-acre evaporation facility is located on the east shore of 
the Bear River Bay. The existing solar evaporation ponds facilities are 
located within the Great Salt Lake, i.e., the ponds are located below 
4205 mean sea level, which is below the high water mark of the Great 
Salt Lake. These facilities allow the Corporation to extract about one-
half of the potassium needed in their production of potassium sulfate. 
The company draws naturally occurring brine from the lake into shallow 
ponds and allows solar evaporation to produce sulfate of potash, as 
well as salt and magnesium chloride minerals. Sulfate of potash is a 
specialty fertilizer that improves the yield and quality of high-value 
crops such as fruits, vegetables, tea, tree nuts and turf grasses. The 
Great Salt Lake facility has operated on the lake for 40 years. At 
present, the remainder of the potassium is imported from other sources. 
The proposed expansion of the solar ponds will allow Great Salt Lake 
Minerals to reduce or discontinue their reliance on imported potassium.
    The applicant is proposing to construct three additional solar 
evaporation ponds totaling approximately 33,000 acres. The proposed 
project includes an 8,000-acre pond on the east side of the Great Salt 
Lake in the Bear River Bay. Brine would be pumped to and from the new 
pond with existing pump stations; however, the capacity of these pump 
stations would be increased proportional to the new pond acreage. 
Additional feed brine for this new pond would come from the North Arm 
of the Great Salt Lake (Gunnison Bay), flowing through existing east 
side ponds.
    In addition, on the west side of the lake, two new solar ponds 
would be added to the existing west side complex, an 18,000-acre 
Dolphin Island expansion pond and a 7,000-acre pond at the southern end 
of Clyman Bay between the Union Pacific Railway and several existing 
ponds. A new feed canal into the lake and a new pump station would be 
constructed on the north end of the proposed Dolphin Island pond. 
Diesel driven pumps, similar to those currently in use, would pump 
brine from the new feed canal to the new pond. Existing pumps would be 
used to pump brine from the new pond to an existing pond. The total 
25,000-acre pond expansion on the west side would increase the 
concentration of brine transferred to an existing gravity-flow trench 
for transport to the east ponds in the Bear River Bay.
    Dikes would be built to accommodate the pond expansion and impound 
the waters of the respective areas. On the east side of the lake 
approximately 540,000 cubic yards of fill would be discharged into Bear 
River Bay to create the dikes. On the west side of the lake, dike 
construction would require approximately 900,000 cubic yards of fill to 
be discharged into open water in the vicinity of Clyman Bay.
    The proposed project areas currently include saline open water, 
sporadically inundated playa lakebed, seasonally flooded playa, saline 
wetlands, rip-rapped dikes and sandy upland habitats. These areas are 
located adjacent to the existing evaporation pond facilities. The Corps 
of Engineers verified a delineation on October 10, 2007 which 
identified approximately 34,180.08 acres of waters of the United 
States, including 21.4 acres of saline wet meadow wetlands, 1,102.94 
acres of seasonally inundated playa above the high water mark of the 
western side of the Great Salt Lake and 33,055.74 acres of seasonally 
or sporadically inundated playa lake bed below the high water mark of 
the Lake. The applicant asserts that approximately 30,713.75 acres of 
waters would be lost due to project construction under the proposed 
alternative.
    The applicant has not proposed compensatory mitigation for project 
impacts. The determination of appropriate compensatory mitigation will 
be determined through public scoping and impact analysis of the EIS 
process.
    The proposed project will not affect any Federally-listed 
threatened or endangered species, however, it may affect state-listed 
special status species. Once a habitat assessment of the areas has been 
completed, the Corps will consult with state and Federal wildlife 
agencies. The Corps will also consult with the State Historic 
Preservation Officer under Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act for properties listed or potentially eligible for 
listing on the National Register of Historic Places, as appropriate.
    A number of on-site and off-site alternatives, including the no 
action alternative, will be evaluated in the DEIS in accordance with 
NEPA and the Section 404(b)(1) guidelines.
    As part of the Corps 404 permitting process, three pre-application 
interagency meetings were held to provide information and identify 
issues and concerns. In addition, a meeting was held with local 
environmental organizations for the same purposes. Preliminary issues 
identified as part of this process include: Water quality, heavy 
metals, nutrient loading, fresh water exchange, changes in salinity, 
and brine shrimp habitat and economic issues. Additionally, potential 
avian impacts were identified to waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors 
including the American white pelican, snowy plover, Canada goose, and 
others.
    The above determinations are based on information provided by the 
applicant and upon the Corps' preliminary review. The Corps is 
soliciting verbal and written comments from the public, Federal, States 
and local agencies and officials, Native American tribes, and other 
interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of 
this proposed activity. The Corps' public involvement program includes 
multiple opportunities for interested parties to provide written and 
oral comments. Affected Federal, State, local agencies, Indian tribes, 
and other interested private organizations and the general public are 
invited to participate.

    Dated: October 24, 2007.
Michael S. Jewell,
Chief, Regulatory Branch, Sacramento District, Corps of Engineers.
[FR Doc. 07-5437 Filed 10-31-07; 8:45 am]
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