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.
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.
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.
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
