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' EKecutiue Summary <br />The U.S. Bureau of Land Management {BLM), White River Resource Area prepazed this <br />Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in response to a proposal by American Soda, L.L.P. <br />(American Soda) for a commercial nahcolite solution mining operation neaz Meeker, Colorado <br />' with associated processing facilities neaz Pazachute, Colorado. The proposed Yankee Gulch <br />Project involves a mining operation with vertical solution mining wells to extract bedded and <br />disseminated nahcolite. The principal products to be produced aze sodium bicazbonate (baking <br />' soda) and sodium cazbonate (soda ash). American Soda submitted a Commercial Mine Plan to <br />the BLM pursuant to 43 CFR 359? for approval of the Yankee Gulch Project. American Soda is <br />currently conducting limited exploration drilling and experimental solution mining activities in <br />' the Piceance Basin under previously permitted mine plans. The primary purpose of the Yankee <br />Gulch Project is to recover the sodium resource from naturally occurring nahcolite deposits in the <br />Piceance Basin under the Yankee Gulch Joint Venture Leases, and produce sodium products at a <br />' profit. The BLM is required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Council on <br />Environmental Quality directives to analyze potential effects on the environment from proposed <br />actions involving federal land and leases (40 CFR 1500-1508). <br />The BLM initiated the public scoping process in June 1998 to receive public and agency <br />comments on the types of potential impacts that should be addressed in the EIS, the <br />' environmental and social resources that might be affected, and the alternatives that should be <br />considered. Three altematives were evaluated in detail: (1) Proposed Action, (2) Accelerated <br />Development, and (3) No Action. <br />' ALTERNATIVES <br />' Proposed Action -American Soda's proposal involves constructing and operating a commercial <br />solution mine producing 1.4 million tons per year (tpy) of nahcolite for the first 30 years of <br />operation. The azea encompassing the Yankee Gulch Project involves t}vee distinct azeas: the <br />' mining production well field on approximately 1,030 acres within the BLM White River <br />Resource Area in Rio Blanco County (Piceance Site); an approximately 43.4-mile long pipeline <br />on BLM and private land in both Rio Blanco and Garfield Counties; and a processing facility on <br />304 acres at an existing, inactive industrial facility on private land neaz the town of Pazachute in <br />Gazfield County (Pazachute Site). Afrer the initial operating period, approximately 15 wells <br />' would be developed to a depth azound 2,000 feet, and operated concurrently each yeaz. Final <br />well spacing would be approximately 300 feet apart within identified mining panels. The mining <br />panels, located on the ridgetops, would be sequentially developed over 5-yeaz time intervals. <br />' Each mining panel would be sequentially reclaimed after mining in the panel stops. Each well is <br />expected to have a mining production life of approximately 1.5 to 3 years. The dissolved <br />nahcolite would be transported from the initial processing facility at the Piceance Site via the <br />43.4-mile pipeline to the Pazachute Site where it would be processed into commercial-grade <br />sodium bicazbonate and soda ash. Bulk products would be transported by an interstate rail <br />connection at the town of Parachute, and sodium bicarbonate would be shipped by truck. The <br />' construction period would last approximately 18 months. The construction work force would <br />vary up to 390 employees during the construction period, and the project would employ <br />approximately 160 permanent employees during operations. <br />ES-1 <br />