Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

Chapter 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences
cooperative agreement with the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center in August
2010 for a $1 million a year, 3-year study on pregnancy outcomes and child development in
relation to uranium exposure among Navajo mothers and infants living on the Navajo Nation.
Conclusion
The health risks and exposure pathways of uranium mining are well known. Past activities
conducted under lax regulations, lack of closure bonds, and limited oversight have left
contaminated sites that are being investigated and remediated by State and Federal agencies in
New Mexico and elsewhere. Lung cancer among men in Cibola County is more common than
other parts of the State and the United States, but other cancers among the general population in
New Mexico have not been shown to be elevated. Additional health effects studies continue.
Many sites were closed and abandoned without reclamation, leaving mill tailings and other
contaminants at the sites. Some cleanup projects have been completed and others are underway,
under the oversight of the NRC, BLM, EPA, and the State of New Mexico. No processing or mill
tailings would occur at the Roca Honda Mine site.
The contamination associated with open pit mining practices and abandoned uranium milling
properties is not expected at the Roca Honda Mine, as it is proposed as an underground mine with
no onsite milling. Existing and new mills are regulated and licensed by the NRC or by some
states under equivalent regulations. Contemporary underground mining procedures include
management practices such as dust control, ventilation, prohibition of smoking, radiation
monitoring, radon concentration standards, reclamation plans, and financial assurance for
reclamation. Related requirements to reduce health risks and ensure reclamation are much
different than the practices followed during the early years of uranium mining in the middle of the
last century and described and denounced in numerous articles and books (Pasternak, 2010). The
lack of open pit mining, leachate treatment, ore milling, in situ leachate handling, and wastepile
disposal; and the requirements for ventilation and similar health and safety requirements of
current uranium mining regulations suggest that there is little or no connection between the
legacy health issues of uranium mining and processing in the past, and anticipated health and
safety effects from the proposed Roca Honda Mine.
Short-term Uses and Long-term Productivity
NEPA requires consideration of “the relationship between short-term uses of man’s environment
and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity” (40 CFR 1502.16). As declared
by Congress, this includes using all practicable means and measures, including financial and
technical assistance, in a manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, to create
and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill
the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans
(NEPA Section 101).
Consequences of Proposed Action
Existing productivity of the site and nearby areas includes grass and forb growth that is grazed by
livestock (cattle), mule deer, and Rocky Mountain elk, as well as providing general wildlife
habitat. It is not used for timber growth or harvest, for farming, or any aquatic productivity uses
442 DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest