Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

Chapter 2. Alternatives, Including the Proposed Action
environment as the natural environment. Spatial boundaries may also vary by resource topic. In
the present cumulative analysis, McKinley and Cibola Counties boundaries may be the most
appropriate for some resource topics, the State of New Mexico’s the most appropriate for others,
and the nearest reaches of the Rio Puerco or Rio Grande for still others. However, a number of
impacts to which the proposed action and secondary and connected actions might hypothetically
contribute incrementally are much further away, much larger, or widely dispersed, such as the
widely separated winter and summer ranges of migratory birds, which may be thousands of miles
apart, connected by a migratory flyway.
Past, Present, and “Reasonably Foreseeable” Future Actions
Uranium Mines
JJ No. 1/L-Bar Mine
Past Mine
The JJ No. 1 Mine, located about 10 air miles north-northeast of Laguna Pueblo in Cibola
County, was an underground uranium mine which produced uranium ore from a depth of 500–600
feet below ground surface for a period of about 5 years from 1976 to 1981. From 1981–1986 it
was on standby status due to low uranium prices; reclamation began in 1986. The L-Bar mill
associated with the mine was demolished at this time and the mill and tailings areas were
reclaimed between 1986 and 1989. An interim radon barrier was placed in 1989 to cover tailings
and the contiguous mill area. After settlement and consolidation of the tailings area from 1989 to
2000, the final radon barrier cover was installed in 2000. The covered tailings and mill area,
including the area of the mine headframe and one of the 12 vent shafts, were transferred to the
Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management in December 2004. Beyond this
area, the only evidence of the former mine, prior to the closeout activities, were 11 capped steel
vent shafts and associated cement pads, steel gravel shoots, and two-track trails between the vent
shafts (figure 23). Final closure of these vent shafts will permanently stabilize the surface and
eliminate any potential hazards to humans or wildlife (Intera, 2011a).
Figure 23. JJ No. 1/L-Bar Mine site (after reclamation)
84 DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest