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1 ~ Legislative ®Executive COVER SHEET DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IlVIPACT STATEMENT ' YANKEE GULCH SODIUM MINERALS PROJECT Lead Agency: U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management, White River Resource Area Jurisdictions in Colorado that could be directly affected: Rio Blanco and Ga~eld Counties Abstract: This Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) evaluates the effects of a commercial nahcolite solution mining operation near Meeker, Colorado with associated processing facilities near Parachute, Colorado. The project proponent, American Soda, L.L.P. (American Soda), proposes to develop a mining operation involving vertical solution mining wells to extract bedded and disseminated nahcolite. The principal products to be produced are sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate (soda ash). The Yankee Gulch Sodium Minerals Project (Yankee Gulch Project) would occur at the Piceance Site, located in the BLM's White River Resource Area, on the ' Yankee Gulch Joint Venture Leases. The processing facilities at the Parachute Site would involve modifying and refurbishing an existing, inactive industrial site at the Unocal Shale Oil Upgrade Facility. The two sites would be connected by an approximately 44-mile long pipeline corridor that ' would contain a product pipeline running from the Piceance Site to the Parachute Site and a parallel return water pipeline. This Drafr EIS analyzes three alternatives for the Yankee Gulch Project: (1) the Proposed Action, (2) an Accelerated Development Alternative, and (3) the No Action Alternative. The Proposed Action involves developing a mining program for the first 30 years of operation on approximately 1,030 acres of the Yankee Gulch lease area. The initial recovery design basis would be 1.4 million tons per year (tpy) of nahcolite. Approximately I S wells would be developed each year afrer the ' initial start-up period. The Accelerated Development Alternative would increase production levels to 4 million tpy of nahcolite from the same mining panels as the Proposed Action. Approximately 45 wells would be developed each year afrer the start-up period, and the life of the project would be shortened to approximately 10 years. The No Action Alternative assumes the mining project would not proceed. ' EIS Contact: Larry Shults USDi Bureau of Land Management White River Resource Area ' 73544 Highway 64 Meeker, CO 81641 t Date Draft EIS Filed with USEPA: January 8, 1999 Dates of Public Hearings: February 10, 1999, 7 p.m., BLM Office, Meeker; February 11, 1999, 7 p.m., Town Hall Council Chambers, Parachute ' Date by Which Comments are Due: Mazch 8, 1999. Written comments should be received by close of business, 5:00 p.m. Please include your name and complete mailing address on all written comments. 1