Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine Reclamation Project, Laguna Indian Reservation, Cibola County, New Mexico
Approval of a reclamation plan is proposed for the Jackpile-Paguate uranium mine, located on three leases of Laguna Indian tribal lands in Cibola County, 40 miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The mine was operated by Anaconda Minerals Company from 1953 through early 1982. Of the total 7868 leased acres, 2656 acres were disturbed by mining. The disturbed areas include 3 open pits, 32 waste dumps, 23 protore (subgrade ore) stockpiles, 4 topsoil stockpiles, and 66 acres of buildings and roads. Three alternative plans are under consideration, involving different filling treatments of the open pits. Under Anaconda's proposal, the open pits would be backfilled to at least three feet above projected ground water recovery levels. The DOI plan would involve backfilling the pits with protore, excess material from waste dump resloping, and soil cover the elevations 40 to 70 feet higher than Anaconda's minimum. The pits then would remain as closed basins, or open channels would be constructed to convey runoff from the pit areas to the Rio Paguate. The Laguna proposal would consist of backfilling the pits seven feet above the DOI proposal. For all alternatives, highwall stability techniques would involve removal of loose material and buttressing with waste and overburden. Waste dump slopes would be reduced to between 2:1 and 3:1, and slopes could be terraced. Jackpile Sandstone exposed by resloping would be covered with four feet of overburden and one foot of topsoil. Mine site facilities would either be removed or cleaned up and left intact. All disturbed areas would be covered with topsoil and seeded. Reclamation would be considered complete when revegetated sites reached either 70% or 90% of that found on comparable reference sites. Post-reclamation monitoring periods would be 3, 5, or 10 years, depending on the alternative chosen. Cost estimates range from $54.2 million to $57.4 million.
- Research Organization:
- Bureau of Land Management, Albuquerque, NM (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5882296
- Report Number(s):
- EIS-85-0155(Draft); BLM-NM-ES-85-001-4134
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: EPA No. 850088D; DOI
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
POLICY AND ECONOMY
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
LAND RECLAMATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ABANDONED SITES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS
INDIAN RESERVATIONS
NEW MEXICO
REVEGETATION
URANIUM MINES
DOCUMENT TYPES
FEDERAL REGION VI
MINES
NORTH AMERICA
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
USA
530200* - Environmental-Social Aspects of Energy Technologies- Assessment of Energy Technologies- (-1989)
290300 - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety
510500 - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (-1989)