Don't Rubber-Stamp New California Mines
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is considering a proposal to reopen and expand the Bishop Mill to process gold ore in eastern California. But it's refusing to confront the effects new and expanded gold mining would have on sensitive animals and wild lands.
The proposed gold mining and milling may hurt air and water quality, migratory birds and rare local fish, increase traffic and greenhouse gas emissions, and produce large amounts of tailings and hazardous waste.
A thorough environmental review is essential before any decision can be made to allow the mill to reopen and accept ore from reopened or expanded mines. The agency's position is wrong to ignore the facts that the mill and the mines that will supply it are connected. It undermines the open public process needed to discuss the use of our public lands.
Tell the BLM it must consider environmental impacts from the proposed mining and ore transport to supply the Bishop Mill.
SUBJECT: Mill Proposal Must Consider Full Impacts
Dear [Decision Maker],
I am writing to comment on the Bishop Mill Project and the project's Environmental Assessment (EA) dated Sept. 19, 2012 (Case File CACA 30866). The Bureau must consider impacts from the mines that would be developed or reopened to feed the proposed reopened and expanded Bishop mill. In particular, environmental review should fully address any impacts to listed species, air and water quality, traffic and cumulative impacts in the area. The proposal states that the mill would serve mines within a 200-mile radius that would be opened or reopened only if the mill is reopened and expanded. The impacts from the mines could affect many protected species, both at the mine sites and along the transportation routes.
For example, new or expanded mining in the Ballarat Mining District of the Panamint Mountains bordering Death Valley National Park could affect species including the Inyo California towhee, Panamint alligator lizard and bighorn sheep, as well as rare water resources. Mining operations and transportation could also affect air quality, including air quality within Death Valley National Park.
I urge you to reconsider the Environmental Assessment and prepare a revised environmental review that fully addresses the whole of the action including the direct, indirect and cumulative impacts from both the proposed mill and the mines.
Thank you.
