Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Energy policy: Nuclear Here's an Powertech's uranium mining operation up in Weld County, from the Northern Colorado Business Report. From the article: Powertech Uranium Corp. announced Dec. 2 that all baseline studies for its Centennial Project west of Nunn are scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2008. The studies for the company's proposed uranium mining operation include radiation data collection, air monitoring, groundwater sampling, surface water sampling, soil sampling, vegetation analysis and noise surveys. Approximately 80 percent of the tasks required to complete the Environment Report and the Class III UIC permit have been completed, the company said... The company now intends to submit permit applications for an in-situ recovery operation to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Department of Natural Resources and Weld County in the first half of 2009. Here's an excerpt from the Powertech press release: Centennial Project All baseline studies to support the mine permit application at Centennial are scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of calendar 2008. These include radiation data collection, air monitoring, groundwater sampling, surface water sampling, soil sampling, vegetation analyses, and noise surveys. Approximately 80% of the tasks required to complete the Environment Report and the Class III UIC Permit application have been completed. Cultural resource surveys have been completed and review by an independent pier is underway. A positive feasibility study has been completed by an independent contractor on the use of deep disposal injection wells for the project's well land and well field waste streams. Further to the 2008 Notice of Intent to Drill (the "NOI") for ten additional drill holes, which was approved by Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety ("CDRMS") in August 2008, three rotary drill holes and one core hole have been completed. One additional core hole has also been completed which was approved under the 2007 drilling NOI. The three rotary holes were drilled to ensure that no uranium resources exist beneath the proposed central processing plant site. Multi-element and physical parameter analyses were performed on core from the core holes. The results of the physical parameter analyses (permeability, porosity, density, etc.) will be incorporated into hydrogeologic modeling for the project. Multi-element analyses results have been incorporated into ongoing metallurgical testing of the mineralized sands. Two additional drill holes are planned to be completed as monitor wells, but work has not yet begun on these holes. The decision to incorporate additional technical information from a final pump test has resulted in a revision in the schedule for filing all permit applications for the Centennial Project. The Company now intends to submit the necessary permit applications for ISR operations to the EPA, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Department of Natural Resources, and Weld County in the first half of calendar 2009. The revision in schedule will allow the Company to bring several of the final steps in completing the permit application in-house, resulting in significant anticipated cost savings from decreased involvement of consultants and contractors on the project. A modification to the 2008 NOI was recently submitted and approved by CDRMS for 15 new wells and one core hole, subject to placement of the required financial surety. The modification includes 13 pump test wells that will facilitate the final pump test, which is now scheduled for March 2009. The Company is continuing to consolidate its land position at Centennial and is negotiating the acquisition or control of additional surface and mineral rights in the area. This news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Clement, President and CEO of Powertech, under whose direction the company's operations are being carried out. Mr. Clement, P.G., MSc. is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. More Coyote Gulch coverage here, here and here. "colorado water" 6:35:30 PM     Oil Shale: Coloradans trying to measure oil shale impact to undeveloped water Here's a look at water requirements for oil shale development from David O. Williams writing for the Colorado Independent. Actual requirements are the huge unknown in the equation. We're learning more each day about the Colorado River's undeveloped water. From the article: The Bush administration and the Bureau of Land Management are pushing relentlessly ahead with plans to fast-track Colorado's long-dormant oil shale industry, but a study released this fall exposes one factor that could put a big damper on the boom: a serious lack of water. The report, prepared for key government and private water stakeholders in the area, says that northwest Colorado rivers can supply enough water to meet the growing demands of the natural gas, coal and uranium industries, but unproven oil shale production technology would "require tremendous amounts of water" that might not be available. From the Deseret News (Jasen Lee): The head of the agency that administers water in the oil-boom area near Vernal said that water supplies for industrial use could run low if development of oil shale and tar sands accelerates. Scott Ruppe, general manager of the Uintah Water Conservancy District, said Tuesday that if oil-shale and tar-sands development increases steadily over the next decade to 20 years, then it could potentially out-strip the amount of water that would be available to users in the region. Ruppe was among the attendees at the 2008 Utah Water Summit held Tuesday at the Davis Convention Center in Layton. He told the Deseret News that the Duchesne and Uintah water districts currently share the rights to 100,000 acre-feet of water from the Green River that can be used for industrial uses like the development of oil shale or tar sands. The districts are allowed to lease the rights to all or part of that allotment to other entities if they so choose, he said. The agencies have already leased some of those rights to companies involved in oil-shale production. If those companies were to eventually expand their operations and bring in thousands more workers and their families, then the resulting growth would put a strain on the area's water resources, Ruppe said. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. 6:28:53 PM     Who will lead Interior under President Obama? Here's an update on President-Elect Obama's choice to lead Interior, from Peter Roper writing for the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article: Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar's name appears to be falling off the list of likely nominees this week, although the first-term Democrat campaigned vigorously for Obama in this battleground state and has said he wants a Westerner to head Interior. Two weeks ago, Salazar told reporters he had not discussed the Interior appointment with anyone from Obama's staff and a spokesman Monday said nothing had changed since that press conference... Salazar has not said he wants to join the Obama cabinet but was put on the list of possible nominees almost by default, given his high-profile battles with the Bush administration over oil shale development in the West, public lands and water. This week, national newspapers are ranking Reps. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif., as prominent contenders to head Interior, with Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., and popular Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer as possible nominees. Schweitzer got national press attention at the Democratic National Convention last August with an energetic and funny speech that showcased the new strength of Democrats in the West. Even so, all of those names may still be speculation, according to one Colorado Sierra Club official. "The report we've had is the Obama transition team has been focusing on the economy until this point, and hasn't taken up Interior yet," the official said. That said, the club's national director, Carl Pope, was interviewed by the transition team last week on the well-known organization's environmental agenda. But Pope is among a host of public policy advocates that Obama's staff is meeting with as the new administration prepares to take office in January. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 6:29:25 AM

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