News

Agencies release Final EIS
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Idaho Falls District and the Caribou-Targhee National Forest will release the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to the public for the Smoky Canyon Mine, Panels F & G beginning on October 17, 2007. The FEIS was prepared in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and in consultation with numerous other state and federal agencies.

The Final EIS analyzes impacts of the J.R. Simplot Company’s proposal to extend current open pit phosphate mining operations at Smoky Canyon Mine south into two existing federal phosphate leases (Manning Creek–Panel F and Deer Creek–Panel G). The leases are administered by BLM’s Pocatello Field Office and are located on the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. If approved, the proposed extension of mining operations would include modification (enlargement) of the Panel F lease and approval of a mine plan by the BLM. Simplot would also have to obtain authorization from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for roads and utilities on National Forest System land outside the lease boundaries that are needed for mining operations.


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-- Posted on Friday, October 19, 2007