Updates
- Protesters Challenge Tar Sands Decision (KUER) (11/20/12)
- Protesters Gather Bring Attention to Tar Sands Decision (KCPW) (11/20/12)
- Tar Sands Impact (Tribune) (11/8/12)
- Oil Sands Mine Permit Approved (Vernal Express) (11/1/12)
- Water Board Backs Oil Sands Project (Deseret News) (10/25/12)
- Utah Board OKs the Nation’s First Commercial Tar Sands Project (Tribune) (10/25/12)
- Testimony to be Heard on Tar Sands Project (KCPW) (10/24/12)
- Tar-Sands Battle First Hearing to be Held Oct. 24 (City Weekly) (10/19/12)
- Potential Groundwater Contamination at Issue in Tar Sands Mine (Deseret News) (9/27/12)
- Decision on Eastern Utah’s Tar Sands Mine Expected Next Month (Tribune) (9/27/12)
- Conflict Heats Up Over Tar Sands Mining in Utah (Deseret News) (9/11/12)
- Tar Sands Mine Permit Upheld (Vernal Express) (9/5/12)
- Oil and Water Tar Mine Needs More Oversight (Tribune) (9/4/12)
- Oil Sands Mining in Utah Clears Major Hurdle (Inside Climate News) (8/31/12)
- Proposed Oil Sands Mine in Utah Survives Judicial Scrutiny (Deseret News) (8/30/12)
- In The Matter of PR Spring Tar Sands Project, Ground Wat)er Discharge Permit-By-Rule, No WQ PR-11-001 (1.9 MB)
Update October 25, 2012
The Water Quality Board, in a 9-2 vote, agreed with the recommendations of an administrative law judge (ALJ) regarding a permit-by-rule issued by the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) for an open pit tar sands mine on state land in eastern Utah. The judge found, and the Board concurred, that the DWQ division director did not wrongly interpret or apply the administrative rules in determining that the PR Spring facility could operate under a permit-by-rule, since operations would have a de minimis (minimal) actual or potential impact on ground water in the project area. Read more …
Update October 2, 2012
The Water Quality Board will meet Oct. 24 to decide whether to uphold the administrative law judge’s (ALJ) opinion on the issuance of a permit to U.S. Oil Sands for its PR Spring Mine in the Uintah Basin. The public is invited to attend the meeting, but public comment and testimony will not be received by the Board. The Board will only hear oral argument from the parties to the proceeding. The Board’s deliberations will be limited to the administrative record of the proceeding, the ALJ’s proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law, order, and oral argument by the parties. The Board will determine whether to approve the ALJ’s recommended order; approve the recommended order with modification; or disapprove the recommended order. The Bard may also choose to return the matter to the ALJ for further action.
In late August, an administrative law judge issued an order upholding Water Quality staff’s approval of issuing a permit to U.S. Oil Sands due to substantial evidence in the administrative record that no shallow ground water exists in the project area. Further, the judge ruled that even if ground water did exist, the project would pose a minimal risk to the quality of that ground water.
The meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. in DEQ’s Board Room, 1015.
Hearing
DEQ provided a live Webcast and Internet feed of the administrative hearing held on Wednesday and Thursday, May 16-17, in the Multi-Agency State Office Building. An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) held an evidentiary hearing on the Division of Water Quality’s preliminary approval of a groundwater discharge permit issued to US Oil Sands Inc. for its PR Springs Tar Sands Project.
ALJ hearings are typically not public meetings, and are held only for the involved parties, their attorneys, and witnesses. However, due to public interest, DEQ chose to Webcast the proceedings live.
Here are the evidentiary hearing documents from the May 16-17 hearing:
- Evidentiary Hearing Index (18 KB)
- Joint Pre Hearing Statement and Order (1.8 MB)
- USOS’s Objections to Testimony (2.3 MB)
100—Executive Secretary
- 100—2012 02 29—Expert Report—Robert Herbert (357 KB)
- 101—Utah Administrative Code R317-6 (68 KB)
- 102—2012 02 29—Expert Report—Mark Novak (2.7 MB)
- 103—Freeze R A and Cherry JA 1979 Groundwater (909 KB)
- 104—Well Driller’s Report (1.4 MB)
200—Living Rivers
- 200—William Johnson Direct Testimony 2012 01 20 (784 KB)
- 201—William Johnson Ph D Supplemental Testimony (337 KB)
- 202—Elliott Lips Direct Testimony (184 KB)
- 203—Elliott Lips Supplemental Direct Testimony 2012 03 16 (1.5 MB)
- 204—USEPA—Exposure and Risk Assessment (316 KB)
- 205—International Program on Chemical Safety (9 KB)
- 206—Schwarzenback Excerpts (6 KB)
- 207—Third NOI Pages 27 and 28 (191 KB)
- 208—MacKay and Gschwend Article (6 KB)
- 209—Red Leaf Application (16 MB)
300—USOS
- 300—Map—Google Mine Site (694 KB)
- 301—Map—Google Mine Site with Detailed Overlay (700 KB)
- 302—Resume of Gerald Park (35 KB)
- 303—Layne Christensen Memo—Coring Program RFQ-11 02 18 (40 KB)
- 304—2011 Coring Program Maps (3.4 MB)
- 305—Summary of 2011 Drilling and Coring Program (273 KB)
- 306—US Oil Water Well #5 Sonic-c (1.5 MB)
- 307—Resume of Robert Bayer (340 KB)
- 308—USGS Map (115 KB)
- 309—W005 Wet Hole Report (129 KB)
- 310—Order of the State Engineer (145 KB)
- 311—The Water Cycle—Groundwater Storage (475 KB)
- 312—Science in Your Watershed—General Intro and Hydrologic Definitions (215 KB)
- 313—American West Analytical Lab Cursory Data Review (84 KB)
Initial Agency Record Index—2012 01 10
- 1 Letter from Novak (DWQ) to Van Loben Sels (EER) re Oil Extraction from Oil Sands 10-14-05 (510 KB)
- 2 Letter from Novak (DWQ) to Van Loben Sels (EER) re Tar Sands Pilot Project Tailings 12-05-05 (504 KB)
- 3 Request for Permit by Rl Det from Bayer (JBR) Env 02-21-08 (2.4 MB)
- 4 UT DOH DLS Environmental Chemical Analysis Report 07-03-08 (711 KB)
- 5 EER NOI to Commence Large Mining Operations PR Spring M0470090 May 2009 (37.9 MB)
- 6 EER Letter to DWQ re 4 Op Chg with Alttachments 02-08-11 (1.4 MB)
- 7 Hydrologic Reconnaissance of the Southern Uinta Basin Tech Pub 49 UT DNR Price and Miller US Geological Survey 1975 (5.5 MB)
- 8 DOE Characteristics of the PR Spring Tar Sand Deposit, Dana and Sinks Laramie Energy Technology Center 1984 (1.8 MB)
- 9 Tar-Sand Resources of the Uinta Basin, Utah: A Catalog of Deposits, Blackett Utah Geological Survey Report 335, May 1996 (5.3 MB)
- PR Spring Consolidated Initial Record Date-stamped 01-10-12 (50.1 MB)
- PR Spring Index of Initial Record (57 KB)
Transcripts of Recorded Testimony
- Edward L. Handl, P.E. Transcript 04 27 12 (6.1 MB)
- William Johnson, Ph.D. Transcript 04 20 12 (1 MB)
- William Johnson, Ph.D. Transcript 05 04 12 (68 KB)