Friday, November 5, 2010

EPA ISSUES NOTICE OF VIOLATION TO DENISON FOR LA SAL MINES



Comment: "Highly regulated" like BP! Look at the huge vent's for radon, this will be going into our neighborhoods! Radon gas kills people everyday! Oh, underground mining looks like a good job, uranium dust all over your face!  No to uranium mining and milling, never will be safe!

Comment: Uranium Corporations cannot follow simple laws so we know uranium corporations will not follow strict laws! The wonders of modern uranium mining, just a pack of lies!  Please follow this great web site and thanks to Uranium Watch! If the state of VA lifts the ban on uranium mining, we will have to form our own group to watch the uranium mining and milling all over VA!  We need to watch the new bunch of GOP who will be going to DC this winter, most of the GOP are in the pockets of big oil (our gas should be $4 a gal by summer), big coal (Mt top removal coal will ship faster to China) and big nukes (our taxpayers monies will be paying for the GOP 100 new nuke plants and pay for uranium mining in the US), they will lift the ban thanks to the people who put Hurt in DC, Southside R, I  will direct the uranium drilling teams to your backyard, no matter how fancy your house is and watch them blast VA hills to nothing!  No to uranium mining!  Notice:  will add the accidents in the  following articles! 


Uranium Watch — Utah Bulletin

Vol. 3 | No. 4 | November 2O1O
EPA ISSUES NOTICE OF VIOLATION TO DENISON FOR LA SAL MINES

On August 17, 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) to the Denison Mines (USA) Corporation (Denison) for their failure to submit monthly radon emission reports for their uranium mines in La Sal, Utah. Usually Denison files an annual report in March with the Utah Division of Air Quality (DAQ) and the EPA with information about the previous year's emission of radon from the mine portals and the radon vent holes, which have been installed from the surface to the underground mine workings. In the annual report Denison must show that they are in compliance with the EPA radon standard.

They do this by using a computer model that calculates the exposure to the nearest residents and schools (that is, the La Sal Elementary School) closest to the radon sources for the Pandora and Beaver Shaft Mines.

The 2009 Annual Compliance Report showed that the mines were not in compliance with the emission standard for 6 of 8 receptors. Therefore, Denison was required to file monthly reports starting with April 2010, pursuant to the 40 C.F.R Part 61 Subpart B regulations.



Radon is vented from the Pandora and Beaver Shaft mines so that the underground mine workers are not exposed to radioactive gas and particles, which cause cancer and other adverse health effects. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) regulates the exposure to the workers. The radon vents are scattered around the La Sal area on private, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Forest Service Lands.


Comment:  The video: not true, plastic will keep radon gas control, funny!  Fully bonded for 1,000 years, don't think so!

The EPA found that Denison was using unapproved radon monitoring devices. An April 2010 Inspection revealed that Denison did not monitored radon emissions from some of the vents in 2010. EPA also rejected Denison's request to use a different computer model to show compliance and their request to use unapproved monitoring devices.


Denison and the EPA are conferring on the violations. Denison has committed to submitting monthly radon monitoring reports starting with October 2010. In 2010 some new vents began begin operation and others will be newly monitored—increasing the likelihood that the mines will continue to emit radon in violation of the standard. The EPA does not require monitoring at the nearest residences or school.

MSHA ISSUES ACCIDENT REPORT FOR PANDORA MINE FATALITY

The Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued an Accident Report for the fatal accident at the Pandora Mine on May 26, 2010. Hunter Diehl was killed when a large slab fell on him while he was manually scaling loose material underground.

MSHA determined that the accident occurred because management policies, procedures, and controls were inadequate. The miner was working alone; the area was not examined or tested by an experienced person designated by the mine operator prior to work commencing in the affected area. Additionally, procedures to ensure that persons scale loose ground from a safe location were not adequate.

Reliance Resources LLC, the mine operator, and Denison Mines Corporation, the mine owner, were responsible for notifying MSHA of the accident within 15 minutes, but MSHA learned of the accident from the media and contacted Reliance Resources at 11:10 a.m., about 4 ½ hours after the accident. Immediate notification is required, so MSHA can assure the safety of all personnel at the operation and can investigate the accident site and incident as soon as possible.

MSHA cited Reliance Resources for 5 violations associated with the accident and the conditions at the mine site on May 26. The amounts of the penalties have not been determined. The May inspection reports have not been released, pending the outcome of the enforcement proceeding. Denison has already paid $5,000 for failing to report the accident promptly. Since the accident, MSHA has cited Reliance Resources for 5 violations at the Pandora and Denison for 11 violations associated with the Pandora and Beaver Shaft Mines.

See http://www.msha.gov/drs/drshome.htm
 (Mine ID # 4200470)

OTHER NEWS

•MSHA cited Denison for 10 health and safety violations at the White Mesa Mill (ID # 4201429) in January 2010 and 18 in August. Some of the August violations were similar to the violations in January. This, apparently, prompted MSHA to do compliance follow-up inspections in August and September, with no additional violations.
See http://www.msha.gov/drs/drshome.htm


Read more:
http://www.uraniumwatch.org/utahbulletin_3.4_101103.htm