Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and To Conduct Scoping for the Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc. Betze Project in Elko and Eureka Counties, NV

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NV-010-94-4191-01]

Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact

Statement and To Conduct Scoping for the Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc.

Betze Project in Elko and Eureka Counties, NV

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact

Statement and to conduct scoping for the Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc.

Betze Project in Elko and Eureka Counties, Nevada.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management, Elko

District Office, prepared an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) with

respect to Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc.'s (Barrick's) Betze Project.

The Final EIS and Record of Decision for the Betze Project were issued

on June 10, 1991. The Final EIS included a description of the

environmental impacts projected to result from groundwater pumping

conducted by Barrick to lower the local groundwater elevations below

the proposed Betze mining operations. Since the Betze EIS was issued,

Barrick's implementation of the pumping operations and its monitoring

of groundwater elevations have provided new information regarding the

pumping requirements and potential environmental impacts of pumping

operations. The Bureau has determined that a Supplemental EIS should be

prepared to assess the potential environmental impacts of the pumping

and water management operations associated with Barrick's mining

operations.

DATES: Written comments on the scoping process will be accepted through

October 3, 1994. Public scoping meetings will be held beginning at 7:00

p.m. on September 14, 1994, at the Bureau of Land Management, Elko

District Office, 3900 E. Idaho St., Elko, Nevada, and beginning at 7:00

p.m. on September 15, 1994, at the Holiday Inn, 1000 E. 6th St., Reno,

Nevada.

ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning the scope of the supplemental

analysis should be sent to Nick Rieger, Betze Project Leader, Bureau of

Land Management, P.O. Box 831, Elko, Nevada 89803. Written comments may

be sent to the above address on or before the close of business on

October 3, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:For additional information, write to

the above address or call Nick Rieger (702) 753-0200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to a Plan of Operations

submitted in April 1989, the Bureau of Land Management, Elko District

Office, prepared an EIS with respect to Barrick's Betze Project. The

Draft EIS for the Betze Project was issued on January 11, 1991, and a

sixty-day public comment period, including two public meetings,

followed. The Final EIS and Record of Decision for the Betze Project

were issued on June 10, 1991. The Betze Project includes the

development of Barrick's existing Post Pit laterally and deeper, to

completely mine the Betze Deposit. Because the Betze Deposit is located

below the elevation of the local groundwater system, Barrick must pump

groundwater from the mine area to lower the groundwater table below

mining operation levels. The Betze EIS described the projected pumping

and water management operations and assessed the environmental impacts

of those operations.

Since the Betze EIS was issued, Barrick through operational

experience and monitoring, has acquired additional information

regarding the pumping rates required to lower groundwater elevations in

the mining area. This includes the nature and extent of the rock type

from which groundwater is being pumped and the hydrologic connection

between the groundwater being pumped and surface waters in the vicinity

of Barrick's mining operations. This new information indicates that the

highly transmissive area from which the groundwater is being pumped is

more extensive than projected at the time the Betze EIS was prepared.

Consequently, the volume of water pumped and the rate of pumping is

greater than originally predicted and analyzed. Barrick's monitoring

program also indicates that groundwater levels are being drawn down

over a larger area than projected at the time of the Betze EIS. The

monitoring program has also provided additional data regarding the

potential hydrologic connection between the groundwater being pumped

and surface waters in the vicinity of Barrick's operations.

Barrick is presently pumping approximately 68,500 gallons per

minute (gpm) to lower the groundwater table. Barrick uses approximately

2,000 to 4,000 gpm for mining and milling operations. Water not used in

mining and milling flows into the TS Reservoir which is located about

four miles southwest of the Betze Pit. During half the year about

15,000 gpm is used for irrigation of alfalfa fields located down

gradient from the reservoir in Boulder Valley. Another 20,000 gpm is

injected or infiltrated into the groundwater in a portion of Boulder

Valley. The bulk of the remaining water in the reservoir infiltrates

into the water table through a high-angle fault located within the

impoundment area. As a result, the water table beneath the reservoir

has risen and mounded in Boulder Valley. This mounding has also created

several springs and associated wetlands in the valley where the

groundwater has intercepted the surface.

The Bureau is proposing to contract with a third party for the

preparation of a supplement to the Betze EIS that would describe the

new information gathered since the Betze EIS was prepared and would

describe any changes in the projected environmental impacts as a result

of the new information. In addition, the Supplemental EIS will also

assess the cumulative impacts of groundwater pumping to lower

elevations and for longer periods of time associated with mining of

other nearby deposits within the area from which groundwater would be

pumped, e.g., the Deep Post and Meikle. It is anticipated that the

Supplemental EIS will focus attention on five issues of special concern

to the BLM: livestock operations, threatened and endangered species,

wetland and riparian vegetation, wildlife and fisheries resources, and

surface and groundwater resources including the potential effects from

Barrick's operations on the Humboldt River.

The Betze EIS Record of Decision included stipulations requiring

Barrick to monitor the effect of its pumping operations on groundwater

and also included stipulations specifically intended to mitigate the

potential impacts of Barrick's groundwater pumping operations. The

stipulations also included a requirement that Barrick establish a

$1,000,000.00 fund for monitoring and mitigation of possible adverse

environmental impacts that were not specifically identified in the

Betze EIS. The Supplemental EIS will evaluate a range of mitigating

measures to minimize these environmental impacts and to assure that

Barrick's operations do not result in undue or unnecessary degradation

of public lands. The special fund described above would be applied to

any additional mitigation subsequently identified in the Supplemental

EIS.

It is important that those interested in this project participate

in the scoping and commenting process. To achieve the best possible

analysis, comments should be as specific as possible. The tentative

project schedule is as follows:

Begin Public Comment Period--September 2, 1994

Issuance of Draft Supplemental EIS--August 30, 1995

File Final Supplemental EIS--December 29, 1995

Comments on the scope of the supplemental EIS should be directed to

the attention of Nick Rieger, Betze Project Leader at the Bureau of

Land Management, Elko District Office, P.O. Box 831, Elko, Nevada

89803. Comments must be received by the close of business on October 3,

1994.

Dated: August 25, 1994.

Rodney Harris,

District Manager.

[FR Doc. 94-21460 Filed 8-30-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-HC-M