Commission Asks for Time to consider Support of Sale of Anaconda Mine Site
Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter
The Lyon County Commission held off on deciding whether to support or oppose the proposed sale of the Anaconda Mine site to a private company at its Jan. 6 meeting. Instead, the commissioners asked county manager Andrew Haskin to bring the item back to the Board’s next meeting after compiling all of the input from Monday’s meeting.
The Bureau of Land Management has issued an Environmental Assessment of the potential impacts of the sale of 2,062 acres of public lands at the mine site and the underlying mineral estate to Atlantic Richfield Company. The Environmental Assessment would allow the Authorizing Officer to determine whether implementing the sale or taking no action would cause significant impacts to the human environment. If it was determined that no significant impacts would occur, a Finding of No Significant Impact would be prepared and a Decision Record would be issued. If significant impacts are likely to occur or the Finding of No Significant Action cannot be reached, an Environmental Impact Statement would be prepared with a subsequent Record of Decision.
Haskin said the purpose of the sale would be to expedite the cleanup of the site.
“BLM said under their executive summary that the cleanup would happen faster if it was privately owned,” Haskin said. “It would also put that under the jurisdiction of Lyon County as far as Title 15 is concerned.”
In the Environmental Assessment, the BLM stated that the proposed sale would facilitate timely remediation activities that were developed to meet Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) requirements pursuant to the Deferral Agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. The Deferral Agreement and the Interim Administrative Order on Consent between the NDEP and Atlantic Richfield Company, dated February 5, 2018, calls for closure of the site by 2029.
The Environmental Assessment states that the conveyance of the lands would assist Atlantic Richfield Company in facilitating the remediation of health and safety hazards at the site. It says that if the land were private, more robust land use restriction could be placed on the parcels after remediation.
“There’s been talks about another company potentially doing some work out there, including remining, and they would have to do some cleanup too, so that’s something to consider,” Haskin said. “I think either way it helps get the site cleaned up, and that’s a good thing.”
The Commission heard from four residents who urged them to oppose the sale of the land, saying it is not in the public interest to remove federal oversight of the cleanup.
Commissioner Dave Hockaday said he has concerns about the mine site’s effect on water quality, and he referred to a page in the report stating the majority of the land in the project area has very little vegetation.
“That’s true, because the ground is so poisoned that nothing grows,” he said. “Those are just some of the things that has to do with the environment that I’m concerned about and if BLM is going to be pushing property off of their rolls, then ARC needs to look at it and whoever takes it over needs to be aware of the environmental impact.”
Haskin told the Board that if the land became private, the county would not have more control over the remediation of the site, but any future uses would require county permitting.
“Any new activity that would happen out there would come under Lyon County control under Title 15, any proposed change in land use, any new land use, just like any other project,” Haskin said.
The consensus of the Commission was to have Haskin bring the item back to the next meeting before taking any action.
