NS 2023 Annual Report For EPA

• IBM Index Class Name: Hydrology
• Doc Date: 8/28/2025
• Archive: No

Natural Soda LLC 2023 Project Status Report & Annual Plan of Development
1 January 2024
1.0 Introduction and Project Summary
This 2023 Project Status Report and Annual Plan of Development is submitted to fulfill
the requirements of BLM sodium leases, COC-00118326, COC-00118327,
COC-0119986, and COC-37474 as stated in Federal Regulations 43 CFR, Subpart
3591 and 3592 and the Project Record of Decision dated January 20, 1987. This report
is also submitted to the Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety (DRMS) to
meet the requirements for an Annual Report per State permit number M-1983-194, and
in part to meet the requirements contained in the EPA UIC Class III Area Permits:
CO30358-00000 and CO32169-00000. EPA UIC Permit CO32169-0000 was assigned
to the Deep Vertical Production Well (DVPW) project. The NS DVPW program was
terminated by NS and NS Plugged and Abandoned (P&A) the DVPW-1 well in 2022.
This permit was canceled by the EPA in 2023 at the request of NS. The EPA UIC
permit expired on January 20, 2023. Permit C032169-0000 will not appear in future
annual reports.
This report summarizes the Natural Soda LLC (NS) 2023 process operations,
production activities, reclamation status, geotechnical and environmental monitoring
results, as well as the status of surface facilities and wells. Proposed operations for
2024 will be described in this report, including the possibility of permitting two new
production wells, 19H-1V and 19H-IR-E. NS will also drill and complete two new
production wells, the 18H-1V and the 18H-IR-W well. Groundwater monitor wells
(GMWs) and water supply wells (WSWs) will be maintained in 2024.
2.0 Description of Project Area
2.1. Location and Regional Setting
The four NS federal sodium leases are located in the Piceance Creek Basin in Rio
Blanco County in northwestern Colorado (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The sodium leases
are located primarily between the Yellow Creek and Piceance Creek drainages,
approximately 41 miles from Meeker, Colorado and 53 miles from Rifle, Colorado. The
climate is semi-arid with annual precipitation averaging 12-14 inches. Precipitation
generally occurs as snow from November to March and as rain during the remainder of
the year. The vegetation is predominantly pinyon pine, sagebrush, Utah juniper,
western wheatgrass, and needle-and-thread grass. The total area contained within the
four sodium leases is 8,379 acres more or less. The principal area of current operations
are located in and around Section 26, T1S, R98W, 6th Principal Meridian. Figure 1
shows the NS leases and regional setting. Figure 2 shows sodium leases within the
Piceance Creek Basin. Figure 3 and Figure 4 show the NS well locations and proposed
well locations.