State of New Mexico 

Office 1die §overnor Bill Richardson 

Governor 

October 25,2010 

Al Armendariz, Regional Administrator 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6 


1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200 


Dallas, TX 75202-2733 


RE: 	 Proposal to Include the Molycorp, Inc. Site, Taos County, New Mexico, on the National 


Priorities List (EPA ID: NMD002899094) . 


Dear Mr. Armendariz: 

By this letter, the State ofNew Mexico expresses its support for adding the Molycorp, Inc. site, also 

known as the Questa Mine site, located near the Town of Questa, Taos County, New Mexico, on the 

National Priorities List (NPL) for remedial action pursuant to section 105(a)(8)(B) of the 

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. § 

9605(a)(8)(B). CERCLA remedial action at the site is necessary to protect human health and the 

environment. The State ofNew Mexico initially supported inclusion of the Molycorp, Inc. site on 

the NPL by letter from then Governor Gary E. Johnson, dated April 1, 2000. The Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the site for the NPL on May 11,2000. 65 Fed. Reg. 30,489. 

This letter reaffirms the State ofNew Mexico's concurrence with the final listing of the Molycorp, 

Inc. site on the NPL. 

Due to a corporate acquisition, the Molycorp, Inc. site is now operated by Chevron Mining Inc. 

(CMI), and has been renamed the CMI Questa Mine. The site consists ofthe mine site and milling 

facility, and the tailing ponds. The mine site and milling facility is located four miles east of Questa, 

and the tailings impoundments are located one mile west of Questa. A nine-mile long pipeline 

running along State Highway 38 and the Red River connects the milling facility to the tailings 

ponds. The mine site and milling facility is located on approximately three square miles of land and 

the tailing impoundments encompass approximately two square mile of land. Mining operations at 

the site began in 1920 and are ongoing. Open pit mining was conducted from 1965 to 1983 and 

resulted in over 328 million tons of acid generating and potentially acid-generating waste rock being 

, placed into nine piles surrounding the open pit. Mining is currently performed underground. Over 

100 million tons of tailing have been disposed of in the tailing impoundments. 

/ 

State Capitol • Room 400 • Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 • 505-476-2200 • www.governor.state.nm.us 
Al Armendariz 

October 25,2010 

Page 2 of2 

Over the years numerous breaks in the pipeline resulted in the release of tailings into and along the 

flood plain of the Red River. The remedial investigation performed for the site confirms that tailing 

seepage and runoff from the tailing ponds have caused ground water and soil contamination with 

hazardous substances at levels that pose a risk to health and the environment. In addition, ground 

water and surface water have been adversely impacted by seepage of acidic metals-laden water 

generated from the weathering ofthe waste rock piles (referred to as acid rock drainage or ARD) at 

the mine site. Contaminants of concern include aluminum, antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, 

chromium, cobalt, fluoride, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, sulfate (a precursor to the 

formation of sulfuric acid, which is a primary component of ARD), vanadium and zinc. 

Listing the Molycorp, Inc. site on the NPL would allow use of the Hazardous Substance Superfund 

to fund remedial activities and clean-up the site in the event that potentially responsible parties are 

not willing or able to fund remedial activities. Given that the site poses a threat to public health and 

the environment and, in particular, given that it threatens ground water quality which must be 

preserved for future generations, the State ofNew Mexico strongly supports the addition ofthe 

Molycorp, Inc. site to the NPL. 

The State ofNew Mexico looks forward to continuing to work closely with EPA on this site to 

ensure the protection ofhuman health and environment. 

Sincerely, 

Bill Richardson 

Governor 

cc: 	 Sam Coleman, Superfund Division, EPA Region 6 

Ron Curry, Secretary, New Mexico Environmental Department and New Mexico Natural 

Resources Trustee