United States 

Department of 

Agriculture

Forest 

Service 

Black Hills 

National 

Forest 

Mystic Ranger District 

8221 South Highway 16 

Rapid City, SD 57702 

Phone 605-343-1567 Fax 605-343-7134

 Caring for the Land and Serving People Printed on Recycled Paper

File Code: 1950 –Section 30 Limestone 

Mining Project 

Date: March 4, 2011 

Greetings from the Black Hills National Forest: 

Black Hills National Forest (BHNF) personnel recently completed a Draft Environmental Impact 

Statement (DEIS) for the Section 30 Limestone Mining Project. A Plan of Operation was submitted 

by Pete Lien and Sons, Inc., for the purpose of mining for chemical grade limestone within mining 

claims on National Forest System land. The proposal is to mine within Pennington County totaling 

approximately 94 acres along the northwest boundary of Rapid City, South Dakota. 

The Purpose and Need for this project is authorization of Pete Lien and Sons, Inc., proposal to 

exercise their rights under U.S. mining laws while protecting the environment in accordance with 

Forest Service regulations for locatable minerals. The Purpose and Need has several components. 

Pete Lien and Sons, Inc. has a statutory right to extract locatable minerals (chemical grade 

limestone) as proposed in accordance with the General Mining Law of 1872, as amended (30 

U.S.C.21-54). The Forest Service has the responsibility to protect surface resources of National 

Forest System lands to the extent practicable. Forest Service mining regulations state that, 

“operations shall be conducted so as, where feasible, to minimize adverse impacts on National Forest 

System surface resources (36 CFR 228.8).” 

The proposed action is to approve the Plan of Operation (PO) submitted by Pete Lien and Sons, 

Inc. to mine approximately 94 acres of National Forest System lands on the PLS 30-1 through PLS 

30-10 Lode Mining Claims. The Plan of Operations was developed by Pete Lien and Sons, Inc. It 

was submitted to the Forest Service in accordance with the General Mining Law of 1872, as 

amended and Forest Service mining regulations at 36 CFR 228 Subpart A. Legal description of 

the project area is; T.2N., R.7E., NE 1⁄4 Section 30, BHM. 

The Plan of Operation is summarized as follows: 

• It is estimated that the operation would process approximately 10 million tons of limestone 

from a 94 acre open pit chemical grade limestone mine. The life of the proposed mine is 

estimated at 25 years, not including final reclamation. 

• As confirmed by exploration and discovery of the unpatented mining claims of Section 30, 

the limestone deposit is at the surface and best recovered by an open pit surface mining 

operation. The process for surface mining would follow Best Management Procedures 

(MPB) standard procedures. 

• The operation would remove vegetation, stockpile topsoil for future reclamation, drill and 

blast rock to remove an average 25 foot bed of limestone rock resulting in an open pit with 

an average of 25 foot high walls. 
• Blasted rock may be crushed on site to reduce size for hauling. Raw materials would be 

hauled to the east of SD Highway 79 for processing into chemical grade limestone products. 

• Concurrent reclamation is planned. Approximately 60 acres would be disturbed at any 

one time. Reclamation would result in a depression on the existing hillside. High walls 

would be reduced, site graded, topsoil applied, and vegetation planted once mineral 

extraction is complete. 

• Removal of limestone would require blasting. Blasting would follow standard industry

practices and would be performed under the direct supervision of certified blasting 

engineers and required state of South Dakota mining regulations and permits. 

• The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) would be responsible for enforcing 

mine safety regulations. The mine site would be enclosed by fences and gates as required 

by MSHA and other regulatory guidance. 

Pete Lien and Sons, Inc. will secure permits for all mining and reclamation activities as required by 

law. Several permits have been obtained or will be obtained pending the NEPA analysis and 

decision. Permit requirements include: 

• Clean Water Act – Apply for construction/mining activity permit with National Pollutant 

Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). 

• Clean Air Act – Permit or permits will be obtained to ensure that equipment and dust 

control measures comply with the Clean Air Act. 

• South Dakota Mining License – Pete Lien and Sons, Inc. currently has a mining license 

inclusive of the relevant portion of Section 30 Project Area. 

• Pennington County Construction (Mining) Permit – Pete Lien and Sons, Inc. will notify the 

County of its schedule and plans to initiate mining on Section 30 Project Area. 

Construction permit CP 01-05 specifies the scope of the County’s further review of road 

impacts, drainage, and other matters related to mining on Section 30 Project Area.

I have enclosed a copy of the Section 30 Project Draft EIS. Chapters 1 and 2 provide background 

and comparison of alternatives for many readers to judge the relative merits of the various 

alternative approaches to the limestone mining proposal. At this time, the Forest Service has not 

identified a preferred alternative. More detail on the effects of alternatives is presented in Chapter 3. 

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) provides for a 45-day public review/comment 

period for a Draft EIS. Comments on the Section 30 Limestone Mining Project must be in 

writing and postmarked or emailed no later than 45 days after the Notice of Availability is 

published in the Federal Register, which is expected to be on March 18, 2011. Comments on the 

Draft EIS should be specific and address the adequacy of the document and the merits of the 

alternatives discussed (40 CFR 1503.3). I would greatly appreciate if you would take the time 

from your busy schedule to review and comment on the Section 30 Limestone Mining Project 

Draft EIS. So, for example, if you prefer some aspects of an alternative but disagree with others, 

please be as specific as possible when sending your comments. These comments will be used to 
prepare a Final EIS/Record of Decision (ROD) and are critical in making good decisions about 

how to manage this area of your National Forest. 

Please send comments to: Robert Thompson, District Ranger, Mystic Ranger District, Section 

30 Limestone Mining Project, 8221 South Highway 16, Rapid City, SD 57702. Or, if preferred, 

you may email your comments to: comments-rocky-mountain-black-hills-mystic@fs.fed.us with 

‘Section 30’ as the subject. The Draft EIS is also available on the BHNF web site at 

http://go.usa.gov/g4a. 

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me, Dave Slepnikoff, or 

Katie Van Alstyne at the Mystic Ranger District office in Rapid City at (605)-343-1567, or write 

to us at the above address. Thank you for your time and interest in the management of your 

National Forest. 

Sincerely, 

/s/Robert J. Thompson 

ROBERT J. THOMPSON 

District Ranger 

Enclosure: 

Section 30 Limestone Mining Project Draft EIS 

Section 30 Limestone Mining Project Draft EIS Comment Form