The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. has concluded that certain specific actions should be taken for the Kensington gold project in Alaska to meet environmental requirements and comply with the Clean Water Act.
These recommended changes include providing additional wastewater treatment, a redesign to address peak flow information, further analysis of avalanche hazard, a movement of outfall into deeper water to assure adequate mixing, additional testing for potential acid generation, and the performance of additional analyses on ore samples to project effluent quality. Joint-venture partners Echo Bay Mines (TSE) and Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE) say the EPA announcement provides the framework for completing the federal permitting of that project.
The EPA recommendations are in the form of a Technical Assistance Report (TAR). Completion of a TAR by the EPA allows the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete its work for issuance of a federal permit for construction of a water treatment facility at the Kensington mine, pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
The two companies said the EPA’s recommendations for Kensington’s proposed tailings impoundment have provided the information needed to modify certain aspects of the operation to accommodate the EPA’s recommendations in some cases, and to furnish the EPA with the precise additional information and analyses requested in other cases. The project would then comply fully with all Clean Water Act regulations.
The Kensington project is 45 miles north of Juneau. Construction of the mine will take more than two years. The mine is expected to employ about 340 workers with an estimated US$19 million annual payroll for southeast Alaska. The project will also result in nearly US$20 million in goods and services purchased annually.
Echo Bay is developing the historic Alaska-Juneau mine as well, which is also awaiting a TAR from the EPA.
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