| HOME WISE Uranium Project > Mining & Milling > Issues > New Uranium Mining Projects - USA > |
(last updated 9 Oct 2008)
(The Railroad Commission of Texas) (The Railroad Commission of Texas)
, complain that current law allows companies to test baseline groundwater conditions before they begin mining - but not before they begin exploration.
Reed said contaminants can seep into groundwater during exploration. Reed said that companies that find contaminants can then apply for an exemption to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. “We have to have true baseline testing at the front end,” Reed told a group of supporters at the Texas Capitol.
The Goliad County Groundwater Conservation District documented a substantial increase in minerals and iron in area wells during exploratory drilling.
> Download Report on Findings Related to the Restoration of InSitu
Uranium Mines in South Texas , Southwest Groundwater Consulting, LLC, September 29, 2008
"URI, INC. for an amendment to its Class III Underground Injection Control Permit No.UR02880-001 to authorize additional in situ uranium mining at an extension of its Rosita project. The permit area of this site will comprise 2,278 acres and will contain three production areas totaling approximately 122 acres. The production zone is approximately 10 to 50 feet thick in sand units of the Goliad Formation at a depth of 100 feet to 300 below land surface. The Rosita project is located approximately 11 miles northwest of the City of San Diego, north of State Highway 44 in northern Duval County, Texas."
[Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, Items Signed by Executive Director, January 23, 1998]
> See more recent issues
On Oct. 18, 2004, Uranium Resources, Inc. announced that it has commenced uranium production at its Vasquez in-situ leach property. URI expects Vasquez to produce 300,000 to 350,000 pounds of uranium (115 - 135 t U) in 2004. On Nov. 8, 2004, URI reduced the 2004 production target to 115,000 pounds (44.3 t U). On March 31, 2005, URI reported that the production obtained from Vasquez in the first quarter of 2005 was only approx. 100,000 pounds U3O8 [38.5 t U], due to "certain chemical and permeability obstacles in the Vasquez formation".
Uranium Resources, Inc., after having reached a settlement of the lawsuit over the validity of the Company's leases, plans to commence mining operations at its Vasquez property in Duval County, Texas, in July 2004. (URI March 23, 2004)
Uranium Resources, Inc., in view of the rise of the uranium price above $12/lb U3O8, wants to have its Vasquez uranium ISL project operational by 2005, provided the company is capable to raise about $5.5-million necessary to finance the commencement of production. (URI SEC filing Oct. 2, 2003)
Uranium Resources, Inc.receives state permit for Vasquez in situ uranium mining project:
"URI, INC.for a Class III Underground Injection Control Permit (Proposed Permit No. UR03050-001) to authorize in situ uranium mining at its Vasquez Project. The permit area of this site is 841.66 acres and contains one proposed production area of approximately 454 acres. The production zone is approximately 45 to 70 feet thick in the Oakville Sandstone at a depth of 150 feet below land surface and 480 feet below sea level. The mine is located in Duval County on the north side of Highway 359, ten miles south-southeast of Bruni and 50 miles east of Laredo."
[Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, Items Signed by Executive Director, August 15, 1997]
> See more recent issues
Project development commenced August 2004; plant construction commenced January 2005; commercial operations started October 28, 2005; first shipment of yellowcake product delivered in January 2006. The project has a 1,000,000 lb U3O8 (385 t U) design annual production capacity. (Mesteña July 2006)
Uranium license issued: The Bureau of Radiation Control completed the technical, environmental, and financial review of a new application for a radioactive-material license for in situ uranium mining from Mesteña Uranium LLC and issued a proposal to issue the license and opportunity for public hearing (see Texas Register Aug. 16, 2002). Since no hearing was requested, the license was issued on October 7, 2002. (Texas Department of Health, Bureau of Radiation Control, Nov. 21, 2002)
Uranium Resources Inc. abandons Alta Mesa uranium in-situ leaching project. "The Company concluded that the uranium market would not have sufficiently rebounded in 1999 to allow for the timely commencement of production within the remaining period of the lease term (December 1999)" (URI, Jan. 20, 1999)
Uranium Resources Inc. receives state permit for Alta Mesa uranium in-situ leaching project:
"URI, Inc. for an Underground Injection Control (UIC) permit (UR03055-001) for in situ uranium mining (solution mining); two waste disposal well permits (WDW-336 and WDW-337) to dispose of nonhazardous wastewater generated at the site; and a production area authorization (PAA) (URO3055-011) to mine within production area one. The Executive Director declared the area permit application/PAA application administratively complete on October 31, 1996 and the WDW applications administratively complete on February 5, 1997. Draft permits and a draft PAA have been prepared. The proposed uranium mining operation, called the Alta Mesa Project, is in Brooks County approximately 23 miles south-southwest of Falfurrias, and approximately 13 miles west of the intersection of U.S. Highway 281 and Ranch to Market Road 755 in the Rafael G. Salinas Survey, A-480." [Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission: Items Signed by Executive Director November 6, 1998
Uranium Resources Inc has acquired the rights to the Alta Mesa, Texas, uranium deposit from its existing Texan owners. URI said licencing will begin immediately and plant construction could start in the second quarter of 1997 with production to start in early 1998 at over 1 million lbs U3O8 pa (385 tU). [UI News Briefing 96/25]
On Sept. 8, 2008, Uranium Energy Corp announced the successful completion of hydrologic testing in the first production area (PA-1) at the Company's Goliad in-situ leach uranium project in South Texas. The Company has now filed a Production Area Authorization (PAA) Application with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The TCEQ earlier issued a Draft Mine Permit to the Company for the Goliad ISR Project, as announced in June this year.
Public comment period open on uranium permit for Goliad uranium in-situ leach project: The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality prepared the draft permit which is now available for public comment until July 25, 2008. Uranium Energy Corp. has not yet submitted its affidavit that it has printed a public notice, TCEQ spokeswoman Andrea Morrow said. The company published notice in Goliad's "The Texan Express" on June 25, 2008, and rules state the public has 30 days to comment after that notice. The notice regards the company's application for the Class III injection well proposed permit No. UR03075. The draft permit establishes the conditions under which the facility must operate. The company also requested that TCEQ designate a portion of the Goliad Formation as an exempted aquifer, according to the notice. The exemption is required before the company can operate the proposed injection wells. (Victoria Advocate June 27, 2008)
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has issued a Draft Mine Permit for Uranium Energy Corp's Goliad in-situ leach uranium project in South Texas. Notice of the draft permit will be published in project-area newspapers for public comment for thirty days. (UEC June 5, 2008)
A lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by Goliad County and an individual landowner and alleges infractions of the Safe Drinking Water Act nearby to areas where Uranium Energy Corp is currently drilling. (UEC Mar. 19, 2008)
Goliad County plans to sue uranium company for contaminating drinking water: Attorney Jim Blackburn mailed a notice of intent to sue Uranium Energy Corp. The county plans to sue under the Safe Drinking Water Act in federal court in Victoria. “There are a number of water wells that have been rendered undrinkable,” Blackburn, of Blackburn Carter in Houston, said. “The notice claims there was illegal underground injection occurring.” The notice states that wells in the Evangeline Aquifer were contaminated after the uranium company began drilling test holes and extracting samples. It continues to state that boreholes weren't plugged and allowed storm water flowing over land to enter the aquifer. (Victoria Advocate Mar. 1, 2008)
On Oct. 24, 2007, Uranium Energy Corp announced that it has submitted a mine permit application to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for in-situ recovery (ISR) of uranium at its Goliad Uranium Project in Goliad County, Texas.
Uranium Energy Corporation has completed the remediation ordered by the Texas Railroad Commission at its uranium exploration site in Goliad County. The RRC "termination of violation notice" dated June 19, 2007, states, "UEC has completed the remedial action required. Specifically, UEC has installed a concrete surface plug at all sites, installed a PVC pipe to mark each borehole location, and removed all drilling mud, cuttings, cement and other debris burying it with no less than one foot of topsoil." (Victoria Advocate July 20, 2007)
Goliad County commissioners want uranium mining activities in Goliad County to "cease and desist" until the mining company is brought into total compliance with recently discovered violations. On Apr. 9, 2007, the commissioners court unanimously approved sending what commissioner Jim Kreneck called a "demand" letter, telling the Texas Railroad Commission to instruct Uranium Energy Corporation to stop mining activities. (Victoria Advocate Apr. 10, 2007)
Uranium Energy Corp. failed to plug all drilling holes and to bury all drilling mud, cuttings, cement and other debris under no less than a foot of topsoil, the Railroad Commission of Texas said when it issued a notice of violation to the company.
The notice of violation followed the inspection in early March, which was prompted by a complaint from James B. Blackburn Jr., representing Goliad County.
"The complaint, received Feb. 6, 2007, alleged that UEC was not disposing drill fluids and potentially harmful cuttings in accordance with ... the permit, and that (these) activities were adversely impacting the area groundwater resources," the railroad commission noted.
(Victoria Advocate Apr. 4, 2007)
The Goliad County Commissioners Court approved the formation of a county uranium research and advisory committee. The committee will be a fact-finding group that will bring recommendations to the commissioners court on how best to deal with the uranium mining that began in the county with the drilling of test wells in May 2006. In October 2006, the court passed a resolution in opposition to uranium mining in the county. (Victoria Advocate Dec. 12, 2006)
Uranium Energy Corp has initiated baseline environmental permitting activities at its 100%-controlled Goliad Project in Goliad County, Texas in order to obtain a mine permit from the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ), as well as a Radioactive Materials License (RML) from the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS). These activities are designed to demonstrate that proposed development and In-Situ Leach (ISL) mining will protect public health and the environment. This analysis includes geological, hydrologic, air and water quality, historical and ecological studies. (Uranium Energy Corp. Nov. 16, 2006)
On Oct. 23, 2006, the Goliad groundwater district put Uranium Energy Corp. on notice. Last week, the groundwater district voted to deny the uranium company a permit to use the water well on the Jacobs property for uranium mining. The well had been registered for use as a livestock well and when its use changed, it lost its grandfathered status. During a public hearing on the permit request, several citizens questioned if other water wells were also being used for uranium mining without a groundwater district permit. (Victoria Advocate Oct. 24, 2006)
On Oct. 17, 2006, the Goliad County Groundwater Conservation District denied a permit to operate a water well on property that is being tested for the presence of uranium. (Victoria Advocate Oct. 18, 2006)
On Oct. 9, 2006, the Goliad County Commissioners Court passed a resolution in "firm and absolute opposition to in-situ uranium mining in Goliad County," citing concerns over possible groundwater contamination from the drilling.
"We want to stay on top of this situation, and be on record that we are against them coming in here," said County Judge Harold Gleinser. The judge said there was nothing enforceable or binding about the resolution as far as the uranium mining company was concerned.
Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC) began drilling test wells in mid-May 2006 off Duderstadt Road near the Weser community about two miles from the DeWitt County line. UEC has leased about 2,000 acres in that area. Late September 2006 the company confirmed the presence of uranium at their test sites.
(Victoria Advocate Oct. 13, 2006)
On July 18, 2006, Energy Metals Corporation announced that EMC's 99% owned South Texas Mining Venture is in the process of permitting the La Palangana mine site for construction of an in-situ uranium operation to supply feed for EMC-STMV's already licensed Hobson processing facility in Karnes County, Texas. Required site characterization studies are underway at La Palangana to allow for the permitting of the mine facility.
| HOME WISE Uranium Project > Mining & Milling > Issues > New Uranium Mining Projects - USA > |