Caribou Clean Water Partnership

SMOKY CANYON MINE EXPANSION
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Record of Decision on Smoky Canyon Approves More Pollution

The decision by federal agencies to approve all new mining proposed by the J.R. SImplot Co. will increase selenium pollution in area streams and groundwater and be in violation of federal laws. If the government agencies are willing to favor the interests of private industry over those of the public, then ordinary people must take action. The decision to approve new pollution will be appealed by our partnership. We are not opposed to responsible mining practices. We are opposed to irresponsible decisions leading to new contamination and lack of clean up for past mistakes. It is time to clean up selenium contamination at Smoky Canyon.
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FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
The Forest Service and the BLM released the Final EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) in October 2007 outlining the impacts of a large new expansion to the Smoky Canyon mine on the Idaho/Wyoming border.

The Final EIS is over 2000 pages long with hundreds of additional pages of supplemental reports. It has more than doubled in length from the draft statement and includes many new materials. Buried within this long report are impacts such as invading thousands of acres of protected Roadless Areas, releasing new selenium contamination to water and lands already impacted from previous mining, and the option of condemning private property. The report also offers assurances that Simplot (the mine operator) knows how to manage and clean up such contamination.

The Final EIS also outlines worst case economic impacts of not going forward with the project. The report claims that without the mine there would be far reaching negative economic impacts such as the loss of all jobs at the Smoky Canyon facility and the Don Plant. While fully resisting worst case analysis of environmental damage, the FEIS is quick to predict worst case for the economy. As you read expert comments below, you will find such reporting is flawed, innaccurate and is meant only to put undue bias towards approval.

Click here to read the official comments on the FEIS
Contact us for a copy of the appendicies.
Click here to view the Final EIS on Smoky Canyon Panels F and G

IMPACT TO ROADLESS AREAS

Panel F Before Panel F After Panel G Before Panel G After

1100 ACRES DISTURBED
The Final EIS outlines plans to invade 1100 acres that are protected by the federal Roadless Rule. Roadless Areas provide clean water, wildlife habitat, excellent hunting, world class fishing, remote hiking, solitude, and some of the few remaining wild places left in Caribou Country. Invading these protected areas is against the law and is wrong.

ROADLESS RULE CHANGES
The Roadless Rule that protects the Roadless Areas in the mine plan has come under attack several times. Currently, Idaho has succeeded with a petition to the Bush Administration under the Administrative Procedures Act to manage roadless areas under state rules. This state plan removes almost all protections for eastern Idaho and allows projects like the new Smoky Canyon expansion to invade additional roadless areas.

HISTORY OF CLEAN UP FAILURE

POLE CANYON
Pole Canyon represents the efforts of Simplot to clean up pollution disasters at Smoky Canyon. Millions were spent installing a pipe to re-route Pole Creek away from contaminated waste rocks. When finally finished the pipe soon failed and dumped the stream right into the middle of selenium waste. Simplot and federal agencies are now trying to assure the public in the Final Environmental Impact Statement that clean up of many toxic pollution problems has been successful and will be successful in the future. How can we trust such claims after seeing failure for so long?

If Simplot fails again with so much additional lands impacted, the environmental impacts will be far worse.

SMOKY CANYON SELENIUM POLLUTION

Edgar Imhoff, Retired federal hydrologist and environmental clean up expert, released a report in September 2007 documenting a decades long cover up of the extent and the risks of selenium contamination by industry and federal agencies.

Imhoff's report shows that Simplot was violating clean water standards at Smoky Canyon as early as 1987. Subsequent monitoring has shown many repeated violations of clean water standards. The proposed mine expansion will increase selenium contamination to streams and aquifers already impacted and introduce selenium pollution to additional clean water sources.

Selenium is a serious environmental risk that has decades of science and evidence documenting its harm to livestock, wildlife, and humans.

Download the Full Report (.pdf)
Download the Chronological Facts (.pdf)

ECONOMIC IMPACTS

The Final EIS claims that without ore from the expansion of Smoky Canyon hundreds of jobs will be lost, millions of dollars of mining salaries will vanish and other associated industries will suffer recession. These claims are speculative and deliberately ignore the economic impact of additional, long-term environmental damage to the region on growing industries such as recreation, tourism, and new construction. The FEIS also ignores the globalized nature of phosphate ore reserves and production. Denying the Smoky Canyon expansion will have little calculable effect to the U.S. production of phosphate ore. Additionally, any jobs losses will occur gradually over several years and those jobs will be replaced with other growing sectors in the region. The report also fails to recognize the many jobs needed for the extensive clean up of past and current mining pollution at Smoky Canyon as well as the estimated 173 million dollars needed to successfully remediate the Smoky Canyon Superfund site. That is all money that will mainly go into the local economy in the way of jobs and supply chains. Such omission of balanced economic information reveals the bias of the report and its lack of full disclosure.

If Simplot is worried about the jobs at Smoky Canyon and the Don Plant the company should have been more aggressive in cleaning up selenium contamination over the past 20 years. By making poor decisions and delaying aggressive clean up of contamination in order to increase profit margins, Simplot has put the future of Smoky Canyon in jeopardy. However, there are ways to protect jobs at the mine and the Don Plant:

1 - Clean up Selenium and other contaminants. Dedicated clean up will create many new jobs and stimulate the local economy for years. Clean up will ease the damage to the environment and help future mining permits.

2 - Slow down ore production. The reason ore is running out ahead of past expectations is due to the rate of extraction. Slowing down production will allow a more balanced mining pace for the environment, will secure current mining jobs for more time, and will allow time for new clean up efforts to show successful results.

3 - Simplot can shift jobs from active mining to active remediation. The expertise and skills are similar.

READ THE EXPERT'S COMMENTS ON SMOKY CANYON

Click here to read the official comments on the FEIS
Contact us for a copy of the appendicies.

Final Smoky Canyon DEIS Comments (.pdf)
Smoky Canyon Summary (.pdf)
Economic Analysis - Swanson (.pdf)
Smoky Canyon DEIS Comments - Chambers (.pdf)
Smoky Canyon DEIS Comments - Wald (.pdf)
Smoky Canyon DEIS Comments - Hamilton (.pdf)
Smoky Canyon DEIS Comments - Imhoff (.pdf)
Smoky Canyon DEIS Comments - Trotter (.pdf)
Final EECA Comments - Jones (.doc)
Review of Hydrogeology - Myers (.pdf)
Area Wide Risk Assessment - HIll (.pdf)
Review of Hardy Report - Hamilton (.pdf)
SWAPE Smoky Canyon Evaluation (.pdf)
Appendices Index (.pdf)