[Federal Register: August 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 156)]
[Notices]
[Page 47814-47815]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15au05-36]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers
Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the
Construction and Operation of an Open Pit Taconite Mine, an Ore
Concentrator, a Pellet Plant, a Direct Reduced Iron Plant, a Steel
Mill, and a Tailings Basin Proposed by Minnesota Steel Industries, LLC
Near Nashwauk in Itasca County, MN
AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: Minnesota Steel Industries, LLC (Minnesota Steel) has applied
to the St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers (Corps) for a permit to
discharge fill
[[Page 47815]]
material into wetlands to facilitate the construction and operation of
an open pit taconite mine at the former Butler Taconite site near
Nashwauk, Minnesota, and the construction of new facilities--a crusher,
a concentrator, a pellet plant, a plant for producing direct reduced
iron (DRI), and a steel mill consisting of two electric arc furnaces,
two idle furnaces, two thin slab casters, and a sheet rolling mill. the
former Butler Taconite Stage 1 tailings basin would be reactivated for
the disposal of concentrator tailings. The mining process would require
the construction of overburden, waste rock, and lean ore stockpiles
just north of the proposed mine site. Ore would be hauled via truck
from the mine to the adjacent ore concentrator. Concentrating the ore
would involve crushing, grinding, magnetic separation, and flotation
processes. Concentrator tailings would be pumped as slurry to the
former Butler Taconite Stage 1 tailings basin approximately two miles
southeast of the proposed mine site. The concentrate would be mixed
with a binder and limestone, and converted to unfired pellets in
balling drums or disks. The unfired pellets would be hardened in an
indurating furnace. The DRI plant would convert the iron oxide pellets
to nearly pure iron pellets (DRI pellets) in a 300- to 425-foot-high
vertical shaft reactor. The DRI pellets would be fed to steel mill,
which would produce hot rolled sheet steel. Project plans call for the
mining of approximately 12.8 million long tons of crude ore per year at
a stripping ratio of approximately 0.50:1. Approximately 2.4 million
short tons per year of hot rolled sheet steel would be produced. The
project would employ approximately 700 people for production, support,
and administration. Economic feasibility of the project is based on a
20-year project life. Minnesota Steel at this time cannot predict
whether investments for further operations would be economically
desirable. Therefore, mine planning and detailed design are being
prepared for 20 years of operation and environmental permits are being
requested for a 20-year project life. If the project is permitted, and
if Minnesota Steel proposes to extend the project life beyond the 20-
year period, then modifications to the Section 404 permit and
supplemental environmental review would be required.
The project would require dredging or discharging fill material
into approximately 1,014 acres of wetlands. While some of the wetlands
may be isolated, the majority of the wetlands are adjacent to Oxhide
Creek, Snowball Creek, Pickerel Creek, or O'Brien Creek, which are
tributaries to the Swan River, or they are adjacent to an unnamed
tributary to the Prairie River or to an unnamed tributary to Sucker
Brook, which is a tributary to the Prairie River. The Swan River and
the Prairie River are tributaries to the Mississippi River, which is a
navigable water of the United States. A specific compensatory wetland
mitigation plan has not been developed for the project. Minnesota Steel
intends to work with interested Federal and state agencies to develop
an acceptable plan that would meet Federal and state compensatory
mitigation requirements. The discharge of dredged or fill material into
waters of the United States requires a permit issued by the Corps under
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The final environmental impact
statement will be used as a basis for the permit decision and to ensure
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) can be addressed to Mr. Jon K.
Ahlness, Regulatory Branch by letter at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
190 Fifth Street East, St. Paul, MN 55101-1638, by telephone at (651)
290-5381, or by e-mail at jon.k.ahlness@mvp02.usace.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Corps and the State of Minnesota will
jointly prepare the DEIS. The Corps is the lead federal agency and the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MnDNR) is the lead state
agency. The Corps and the MnDNR will prepare and release to the public
a Scoping Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) and a Draft Scoping
Decision Document. The public will have 30 days to provide comments on
those two documents. The Corps and the MnDNR will conduct a public
scoping meeting in Nashwauk, Minnesota during the 30-day public comment
period. A notice will be published or aired in local media once the
meeting has been scheduled. Additional meetings will be conducted as
needed. In accordance with 40 CFR 1506.5(c) and Corps policy, a third
party contractor will be selected to prepare the DEIS. We anticipate
that the DEIS will be available to the public in late 2006.
The DEIS will assess impacts of the proposed action and reasonable
alternatives, identify and evaluate mitigation alternatives, and
discuss potential environmental monitoring. Significant issues and
resources to be identified in the DEIS will be determined through
coordination with responsible Federal, state, and local agencies; the
general public; interested private organizations and parties; and
affected Native American Tribes. Anyone who has an interest in
participating in the development of the DEIS is invited to contact the
St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers. Major issues identified to date
for discussion in the DEIS are the impacts of the projected project on:
1. Natural resources including: fishery, wildlife, vegetation,
riparian areas, and waters of the U.S., including wetlands.
2. Water quality, water quantity, groundwater, erosion, and
sedimentation.
3. Air quality.
4. Social and economic resources.
5. Downstream resources.
Additional issues of interest may be identified through the public
scoping meeting and agency meetings.
Issuing a permit for the development of an open pit taconite mine
and associated ore processing, steel making, and tailings facilities is
considered to be a major Federal action having a significant impact on
the quality of the human environment. The project: (1) Would have a
significant adverse effect on wetlands (which are special aquatic
sites), and (2) has the potential to significantly affect air quality,
water quality, groundwater, plankton, fish, and wildlife. Our
environmental review will be conducted to the requirements of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966, Council of Environmental Quality Regulations,
Endangered Species Act of 1973, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and
other applicable laws and regulations.
Dated: August 5, 2005.
Michael F. Pfenning,
Colonel, Corps of Engineers, District Engineer.
[FR Doc. 05-16109 Filed 8-12-05; 8:45 am]
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