**Statement of Henri Bisson**

**Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management**

**U.S. Department of the Interior**

**Hardrock Mining: Issues Relating to Abandoned Mine Lands and to
Uranium Mining**

**Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources**

**March 12, 2008**

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this oversight hearing
on issues relating to abandoned mine lands (AML) and to uranium mining.

I recently had the opportunity to testify before you regarding mining
operations on public lands, and the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM)
surface management regulations that have been in force for the past
seven years. With tighter mitigation measures and increased bonding
requirements in the regulations, the BLM currently holds over \$1.1
billion in financial guarantees to cover reclamation costs for ongoing
mining operations and even has the ability to establish trust funds upon
mine closure to mitigate longer-term environmental issues that may
arise. These new stringent controls on mine operations today have helped
eliminate the burden of future abandoned mine lands. However, we
recognize the scope of the AML problem on public lands, particularly as
urban areas encroach on once isolated areas and the increasing risk
associated with more campers, hikers, hunters and off-road enthusiasts
accessing the public lands. Water quality and supply for a number of
communities have also diminished, due to the impacts of abandoned mines.
Our current focus is to continue to make progress in addressing
reclamation of the highest priority abandoned mine lands. The BLM is
committed to carrying out its responsibilities under its revised surface
management regulations to ensure this legacy of past practices is not
repeated.

**[Sizing Up Abandoned Mine Lands]{.underline}**

The BLM maintains an inventory of known abandoned mines located on the
public lands. Most of the sites are abandoned hardrock mines. While
there has never been a comprehensive field inventory conducted of all
abandoned mines, the BLM is currently reviewing and updating available
data. As of February 1, 2008, the BLM's inventory contains 12,035 sites,
of which 10,103 will require further investigation or remediation. Much
of the data comprises legacy records that are often incomplete.
According to our inventory data, there are over 49,192 features (such as
open physical hazards and piles of contaminated material) associated
with 12,035 sites. We would like to emphasize that the sites with the
highest potential for harm to public health and safety have already been
identified by the various Federal, State, and Tribal partners. While it
is important to continue to characterize all sites, and add additional
sites to the inventory, we feel the greatest need is on-the-ground work
for those high- priority sites already identified.

Coordination among the various Federal agencies, States and Tribes who
manage lands with abandoned mines is critical to obtaining a complete
picture of the Abandoned Mine Lands problem and working toward solutions
that involve even more partners. While no single database currently
exists that fully accounts for the scope of the problem, there is a tool
that is available for public viewing that begins to consolidate this
information. The Site Mapper tool on the BLM-Forest Service
Geocommunicator website is an interactive map the public can access to
graphically display abandoned mine lands and other information from
databases managed by the BLM, the U.S. Forest Service, Mine Safety and
Health Administration, Office of Surface Mining, United States
Geological Survey, Environmental Protection Agency, and the State of
California. The tool was launched in October, 2007 , and while there is
still work being done to validate the individual databases that feed
into the system (for example, some sites have been entered more than
once from multiple sources), the tool is a great start. As we continue
to improve the accuracy of our data, we are also encouraging states and
other partners to participate in using this site to consolidate
information.

The BLM and its Federal partners are in the process of developing a new
web portal that will enable the public to obtain a more thorough
overview and perspective on AML matters and what is being done to
address them. This web portal will be activated in about four to six
months.

**[Priorities]{.underline}**

BLM works to prioritize mitigation activities on the 12,035 sites. For
example, some projects are prioritized on a watershed basis, to enable
the BLM to reclaim public land portions of compromised watersheds. Sites
located near populous and high use areas also receive high priority.
Examples include recreation areas, trails and campgrounds. In
establishing priorities for AML reclamation, the BLM and its partners
developed and issued an AML strategic plan in March 2006. Overall, sites
are divided into physical safety and water quality sites, although there
can be overlap. Priority decisions are made site-by-site, based on
physical safety factors, including the likelihood of death or injury,
high public visitation, accessibility, and proximity to populated areas.
Water quality is also considered within the context of threat to public
health, safety, and the environment, whether or not the site is located
within a State-designated priority watershed, and impacts to
BLM-administered lands. Effective partnerships and other sources of
funding also enter into the prioritization process.

Of special concern to all of us are the recent AML-related accidents and
fatalities, such as incidents where off-highway vehicle enthusiasts and
undocumented aliens have fallen into mine shafts. To address these
hazards, the BLM has participated in the Mine Safety and Health
Administration's "Stay Out - Stay Alive" program since 1999. We have
developed a "Stay Out - Stay Alive" video that is available to the
public. With MSHA, we are initiating an outreach program that educates
people about the hazards of abandoned mines. The BLM also has begun a
new partnership initiative called "Fix A Shaft Today!" or FAST. Under
this initiative, the BLM hopes to involve recreation and off-highway
vehicle enthusiasts, the mining industry, off-highway vehicle
manufacturers and retailers, along with the state abandoned mine land
agencies from Arizona, California, New Mexico and Nevada. The FAST
initiative builds upon years of successful partnership with the Nevada
Division of Minerals and the Nevada Mining Association. This effort,
carried out in large part by volunteers and in-kind services, set a
national BLM record of 118 abandoned mine closures in 2006.

**[Accomplishments]{.underline}**

Last year, the Forest Service and the BLM celebrated 10 years of success
with the hardrock abandoned mine lands program. Between 2000 and 2007,
the BLM inventoried 5,500 sites and remediated physical safety hazards
at more than 3,000 sites. The BLM has also restored water quality at
hundreds of sites on thousands of acres. This 10-year milestone was
celebrated at a conference in Colorado, where a field trip highlighted
one of our most successful collaborative projects in the Animas River
Watershed.

The Animas River Watershed reaches across 186 square miles of Colorado's
San Juan Mountains, and is one of two sites selected for remediation
pilot projects in Fiscal Year 1997. Over time, the impacts of
contaminants, including aluminum, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, and zinc
emanating from historic mines and natural sources became environmentally
and economically visible; acidity levels in the water rose to levels
impairing many fisheries and leaving some streams devoid of fish.
Project stakeholders faced the challenge of improving water quality not
only for the benefit of local residents and aquatic life, but also to
ensure the well-being of the town's tourist and recreational trades.
Approximately 50 mining remediation projects were successfully completed
within the Animas River watershed. Of the completed projects, including
the 19 priority sites, mining companies addressed approximately
one-half, Federal land management agencies addressed approximately
one-quarter, and the Animas River Stakeholders Group addressed
approximately one-quarter. The community is now reaping the benefits of
these cleanup efforts, including overall increased water quality and the
return of two reproducing species of trout in downstream areas. This, in
turn, is beginning to attract more visitors seeking recreation to the
area. As the community continues to work together to address the
remaining sites, a collaborative initiative among six Federal agencies
is helping to revitalize a two-mile stretch of the Animas River corridor
through Silverton, recognizing the community's value on tourism as it
promotes aesthetic and quality-of-life improvements to the area.

I am pleased to inform you that next month Secretary Dirk Kempthorne
will recognize these outstanding accomplishments through a Cooperative
Conservation Award. This prestigious Secretarial award recognizes
collaborative achievements among diverse parties including Federal,
state, local, and Tribal governments; private for-profit and non-profit
groups; and other non-governmental entities and individuals.

Aside from the safety hazards and environmental contamination that may
exist, abandoned mines can also be significant cultural and historic
resources and habitat for bats and other wildlife. The benefits of
cleaning up abandoned mine lands make the effort worthwhile. Onsite soil
and water quality is often returned to pre-mining conditions. Visitors
to public lands are protected from health and safety hazards. Nearby
communities enjoy cleaner water, a more diverse and healthy economy, and
a better quality of life. Habitat for plants and wildlife is restored,
and the aesthetics for both visitors and residents who live nearby are
improved.

One of the collaborative clean-up projects involving uranium and
vanadium abandoned mine lands is Cottonwood Wash Watershed in southeast
Utah. After decades of vanadium and uranium mining, the waters and
sediments in the watershed were left with elevated levels of radiation
from mine drainage and waste dumps. Project partners faced the challenge
of addressing this contamination, which affected the use of local water
for drinking, recreation, aquatic life, wildlife, grazing, and
agriculture. A Technical Committee, comprised of Federal and state
partners, developed a reclamation approach that mitigated the area's
physical and environmental hazards in one step: portions of uranium mine
dumps located in stream channels were removed and used as backfill
material for hazardous openings and face-up areas. Project construction
work was spread into seven phases over five years, allowing small and
local contractors to bid on projects, benefiting the local economy,
increasing competition, and reducing overall project costs. Ultimately,
three local companies were selected to conduct the construction work,
which returned \$800,000 to the local economy.

Working with the Navajo AML Bureau, the BLM has provided assistance in
reclamation of uranium mines on Navajo lands in two states. In the late
1980's, the BLM conducted a two-year inventory of abandoned mines on
Navajo lands in the mountains of Arizona. The BLM also worked with the
New Mexico State AML Bureau in the 1980's remediating about a dozen
uranium sites on BLM land in the checkerboard area east of the
Reservation.

**[Uranium Mining on Public Lands Today]{.underline}**

A renewed interest in uranium exploration and eventual production from
domestic sources began in Fiscal Year 2003, when Canada's formerly rich
uranium deposits were reaching the end of their reserves and began
closing down, causing a major increase in demand for new uranium sources
for power generation worldwide. New uranium mining claim locations have
dramatically increased over the past few years in the states of Arizona,
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming due to the increase in the price
of \"yellow cake\" (i.e., partially-refined ores consisting largely of
uranium oxide compounds, primarily U~3~O~8~). Although the specific
minerals are not identified at the time of claim location, we estimate
that approximately 40-50 percent of the 92,000 new mining claims in
Fiscal Year 2007 were for uranium.

It has been two decades since the BLM has dealt with this level of
interest in uranium mining; experts have retired, and new processing
techniques have also emerged. In order to effectively and safely manage
the processing of these Notices and Plans of Operations, the BLM will be
conducting a workshop this summer with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
and state regulatory agencies. The purpose of the workshop will be to
determine the role of each agency in processing applications submitted
for uranium operations on public lands. The BLM will also be
implementing new training on both regulatory and safety aspects of
mining, milling and reclamations methods for uranium.

In addition to building knowledge and partnerships, the BLM is also
positioning its workforce to budget the requisite time for processing
these Plans of Operations. We anticipate that uranium Plans of Operation
may draw increased public participation in the National Environmental
Policy Act planning process, and we may have to re-allocate resources to
respond to that interest.

**[Conclusion]{.underline}**

Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I will be happy to answer any
questions you may have on this important issue.