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Executive Summary The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), White River Resource Area prepared this Envvonmental Impact Statement (EIS) in response to a proposal by American Soda, L.L.P. (American Soda) to construct and operate a commercial nahcolite solution mining operation neaz Meeker, Colorado, with associated processing facilities neaz Parachute, Colorado. The primary purpose of the Yankee Gulch Sodium Minerals Project (Yankee Gulch Project) is to recover the sodium resource from naturally occurring nahcolite deposits in the Piceance Basin under the Yankee Gulch Joint Venture Leases and to produce sodium products at a profit. The proposed Yankee Gulch Project involves a mining operation with vertical solution mining wells to extract bedded and disseminated nahcolite. Tate principal produce to be produced are sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate (soda ash). American Soda is currently conducting limited exploration drilling and experimental solution mining activities in the Piceance Basin under previously permitted Exploration and Test Mine Plans. American Soda submitted a Commercial Mine Plan to the BLM pursttant to 43 CFR 3592 for approval of the Yankee Gulch Project. The BLM is required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Council on Environmental Quality dtrectives to analyze potential effects on the environment from proposed actions involving federal land and leases (40 CFR 1500-] 508). The BLM initiated the public scoping process in June 1998, and the Draft EIS was published in January 1999. The BLM accepted public and agency comments on the Draft EIS during the comment period from January 15 to March 8, 1999. Two public hearings were held in Meeker and Parachute, Colorado, on Febntary 10 and 11, 1999, respectively, to receive commene on the adequacy and accuracy of the Draft EIS. Comments and issues brought forth during the review of the Draft EIS are addressed in this Final EIS. This document is an abbreviated Final EIS; together with the Draft EIS, the two documents comprise the complete decision document. The BLM will consider the Agency Preferred Alternative, the Proposed Action, and altematives analyzed in the Draft and Final EISs and will issue a decision on the project. The final decision and rationale will be presented in a document known as the Record of Decision (ROD). The ROD will be published after the 60-day Notice of Availability of this Final EIS. Fottr alternatives were evaluated in detail: (1) Proposed Action, (2) Accelerated Development Alternative, (3) No Action, and (4) Agency Preferred Altemative. The BLM preferred alternative is the Agency Preferred Alternative. ALTERNATIVES Proposed Action -American Soda's proposal involves constructing and operating a commercial solution mine extracting 1.4 million tons per year (tpy) of nahcolite for the first 30 years of operation. The Yankee Gulch Project involves three distinct areas: the mining production well field on approximately 1,030 acres within the BLM White River Resource Area in Rio Blanco County (Piceance Site); two approximately 44-mile-long pipelines on BLM and private land in both Rio Blanco and Garfield Counties; and a processing facility on 304 acres at an existing, inactive industrial facility on private land near the town of Parachute in Garfield County (Parachute Site). After the initial operating period, approximately 15 wells would be developed to a depth around 2,000 feet and operated concurrently each year. Final well spacing would be approximately 300 feet apatt within identified mining panels. The mining panels, located on the ES-1