GENERAL55787

• Permit No: M1999002
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 8/18/1998
• Doc Name: COMMERCIAL MINE PLAN SUBMITTED TO BLM SECTION 8
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

hunting regulations or as required for site safety, while on site or travelling to
• or from the site.
American Soda will also consider the establishment of additional measures, such
the use of sonic horns, if deer/vehicle collisions occur at a frequency that warrants
such measures.
There will also be activity related to specifically to construction and, subsequently, to
operation of the commercial mine and processing facilities at the Piceance Site.
Initial construction activity will be the more intrusive but will be of relatively short
duration. In addition to the vehicle traffic described above, disturbance at the
Piceance Site during commercial operations would also include noise from the
process equipment, which would generally be continuous and monotonous in
nature. Activity related to ongoing drilling activities will occur intermittently but
will also be monotonous in nature. Most noise would drop below background
levels [45 db(A)] at a distance of about 1 mile (see Section 8.12). As a result of noise,
lighting, and general activity associated with ongoing construction and operations,
mule deer may be displaced from the immediate vicinity of the processing plant, the
access road corridor, and the active portion of the well field. Because mule deer
generally tolerate moderate development and human activity, the potential
effective displacement distance in these areas is expected to be small, e.g., on the
order of a few to several hundred yards, but it could be greater.
• American Soda constructed a 5-foot-high woven wire fence topped by 3 feet of barb
wire (four strands) to keep deer and elk out of the experimental test phase
cooling/retention ponds (American Soda 1997b). To avoid any impacts to deer from
the evaporation ponds, similar fencing would be constructed around the
evaporation ponds at both the Piceance Site and the Parachute Site.
Apart from animal disturbance related specifically to the intensity and frequency of
traffic, the BLM's environmental assessments for the exploration plan converted
animal disturbance to equivalent long-term direct habitat loss (expressed in acres)
based on increased road densities and consequent opening of the area to long-term
human access (BLM 1996c). Within this specific framework, there will be little
increase in this "converted" direct mule deer habitat loss because, although there
will be an incremental increase in road density with development of the
commercial mine, conversion of the area from anear-roadless character (i.e., the
initial impact of road development and opening of the area) will have already
occurred during the exploration/drilling phase. Although a new access road
approximately 1.5 miles long will be constructed from the existing Horse Draw Road
to the Piceance Site processing facility area, access to that site already exists by way of
the Yellow Creek Jeep Trail. Furthermore, this impact will be mitigated or at least
postponed somewhat through restriction of public access by posting signs
prohibiting access and by installing gates on key access roads leading to working
• areas. Public access will remain thus restricted throughout the entire duration of
the commercial mining phase. Ultimately, rehabilitation of roads in conjunction
American Soda, L.L.P. 8-21
Commeraal Mine Plan
August 16, 199R