From:
Pratt.Steven@epamail.epa.gov
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 10:32 AM
To: sarah@uraniumwatch.org
Subject:
Sarah Fields
Program Director
Uranium Watch
Thank you for contacting EPA Region 8 with your questions about
Powertech's submittal of its UIC permit for Dewey Burdock site in South
Dakota. I appreciated our conversation on the ensuing permitting
process. As we discussed, the application was just received and as yet
is not posted on our website. It will also be posted on the South
Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (SDENR) website (
http://www.state.sd.us/denr/denr.html). We are in the process of
assessing and removing confidential business information (CBI) contained
in the application, after which we will be able to make it available to
the public. Below is some information on the permit process.
Once EPA has prepared a draft UIC decision, the public review process
begins with us publishing a public notice in the local newspaper
announcing that a draft permit has been prepared and is available for
public review. The public notice will announce when we will be holding a
public hearing, with date & location information for the hearing. The
notice will also tell people they can review the administrative record
and the draft permit at the local library and possibly other locations
that we will determine when the time comes. The administrative record
for the permit includes the permit application, among other documents.
No less than thirty days after the public notice is published, we will
hold the public hearing. People can submit comments to us in writing any
time before the public hearing, and also at the time of the public
meeting. We will address the comments in a document called a
responsiveness summary. Then we issue the Final Permit and the
responsiveness summary to everyone who submitted comments. There is a
time period of at least 30 days before the final permit becomes
effective, to allow anyone who submitted comments to appeal the final
permit.
The EPA UIC permitting action is only one of three actions that will
need to take place for the project. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC - http://www.nrc.gov/)
is the licensing authority, and the SD DENR has their own requirements.
Here are two links to Powertech sites containing information on the
project.
The link to the Dewey Burdock website in SD:
http://www.powertechuranium.com/s/DeweyBurdock.asp
The link to the Dewey Burdock 43-101 technical report:
http://www.powertechuranium.com/i/pdf/43-101_18jan2006.pdf
We will send you the links to the actual permit application when posted.
I hope this information meets your needs at this time.
Steven J. Pratt, P.E., CAPM (inactive)
Director, Groundwater Program
USEPA - Region 8
1595 Wynkoop Street
Denver, CO 80202-1129
PH: (303) 312-6575