2023-12-08_PERMIT FILE - P2023018 ‎(2)‎

• Permit No: P2023018
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 12/8/2023
• Doc Name: Objection
• To: DRMS
• Email Name: LJW
• Email Name: THM
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

SIERRA Colorado Chgpter
CLUB1536 Wynkoop Street,0-1,Denver,CO 80202 1 303.454.3362 1 www.rme.sierraclub.org
FOUNDED 1892
Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining& Safety
https://dnrlaserfiche.state.co.us/Forms/DRMS Comment
drms [e-mail]
Re: Permit# P2023018
Dear Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety,
Sierra Club's mission is "to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth;to practice and
promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; and to educate and enlist
humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environments." Sierra Club has
more than 2.1 million members and supporters nationwide, including more than 80,000 Coloradans.
Although we are comprised of a diverse population,the tie that binds us is our commitment to
conserving those places, processes and organisms that will sustain our natural heritage with all of its
biological diversity.
Accordingly,the Colorado Chapter of the Sierra Club is opposed to the issuance of an exploratory drilling
permit for the Slick Rock Canyon Uranium project. This proposed uranium exploratory drilling and
mining development project has a high possibility of harming human health, violating environmental
justice and equity, and degrading the region's wildlife and natural resources.
1. Uranium extraction processes separate uranium from its decay products which are also radioactive
and contain most (80-90%) of the radioactivity in the rock(ore).The solid radioactive wastes that are
left over from the milling processes,tailings and the liquid wastes raffinates, remain radioactive and
contain hazardous chemicals from the recovery process (EPA 2023).
The process that will be used to recover uranium from the proposed Slick Rock Canyon mine is milling,
which would be conducted at the nearby White Mesa Uranium Mill. Milling uses alkali and acid washes
to isolate the uranium. Besides chemicals used in washes,the toxic tailings contain sulfide ores,
molybdenum, selenium, arsenic, and mercury, and approximately 85%of the radioactivity of the original
ore (NIH 2O23). Regardless of how uranium is removed from rock, the extraction process creates both
mining waste and mill tailings, radioactive wastes that can contaminate soil, air and water(EPA 2023).
These contaminants can then move into and poison plants and animals including humans.
Exploratory drilling, mining and milling processes will both deplete Dolores River water and threaten to
pollute rivers and the life that they support.Although uranium is widespread in the earth's crust, and
whenever aquifer and bedrock interface,there might be some uranium in the water, exploratory
drilling or mining increases exposure of water to potential contamination (NIH 2O23).
2.The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe has long protested the White Mesa Uranium Mill Because of the
potential dangers of radioactive uranium and the on-site waste containment cells from the milling
process.The White Mesa Mill's sprawling waste pits,which spread across about 275 acres and contain