DRC-2010-005805 - 0901a068801d6809

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DRC-2010-005805
Department of
Environmental Quality / f^^^
Amanda Smith
Exeruiive Director
DIVISION OF R.ADIATION CONTROL
Rusly Lundberg
Director
- '.y
State of Utah
GARY R. HERBERT
Governor
GREG BELL
Lieutenant Governor
October 28, 2010
CERTIFIED MAE.
(Retum Receipt Requested)
Ms. Jo Ann Tischler
Director, Compliance and Permitting
Denison Mines (USA) Corp. (DUSA)
1050 17"^ Street, Suite 950
Denver, CO 80265
Dear Ms. Tischler:
SUBJECT: August 30, 2010 White Mesa Mill Discharge Minimization Technology (DMT)
Performance Standard Monitoring Report (DMT Report), and Cell 4A BAT Performance
Standards Monitoring Report (Cell 4A BAT Report) for the 2nd Quarter, 2010, Submitted
as a Single Volume; Findings, Notice of Enforcement Discretion, and Closeout Letter
We received the subject combined DMT and Cell 4A BAT Reports for the 2"'' Quarter, 2010, dated August
30, 2010. These two reports were submitted as a combined single bound volume under one title, as shown
in the subject block above. An electronic copy of the volume was also submitted on compact disk. We
have reviewed this information, and note the following:
Findings:
1. The first Annual Inspection ofthe Existing Decontamination Pad occurred during the 2"'' Quarter
of 2010. Paragraph 8.2 of the report notes that, "... a new cement floor in the temporary holding
tank, new drop lines between the temporary and main holding tanks, caulking and sealing of
cracks, were completed at the time of the inspection. Installation of a new capture pipe at the pad
exit has also been completed prior to this report."
2. An inspection of the New Decontamination Pad that occurred in the 2"^* Quarter, 2010 is discussed
in the report.
3. The report notes in paragraph 3.0, a freeboard exceedance on June 18, 2010. The DUSA letter,
dated June 21, 2010, contained in Attachment B of the report discusses this. We acknowledge that
the report discusses a history of freeboard exceedances at tailings cells in 2010, which have not yet
been resolved.
4. Paragraph 7.0 of the report discusses liner repairs underway for the Cell 1 liner, as a result of
discovery of leakage in the Cell 1 LDS on June 2, 2010. The DUSA letter, dated June 7, 2010,
contained in Attachment E of the report, discusses this item. We acknowledge that these actions
appear to be in response to DUSA commitments made in the September 22, 2010 DRC
195 North 1950 West • Salt Lake City, UT
Mailing Address; P.O. Box 144850 • Sail Uke City, UT 84114-4850
Telephone [phone]-Fax [phone] 'T.D.D. (801)5.36-4414
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Printed on lOCX recycled paper
Page 2
Confirmatory Action Letter (CAL). Final DUSA compliance with the CAL will be determined at a
later date.
5. As you are aware as required by the Part I.D.3.b.l of the permit, "the Permittee shall at all times
maintain the average wastewater head in the slimes drain access pipe to be as low as reasonably
achievable in each tailings disposal cell, in accordance with a DMT Monitoring Plan. Compliance
shall be achieved when the average annual wastewater recovery elevation in the slimes drain
access pipe, determined pursuant to the currently approved DMT Monitoring Plan, meets the
conditions in Equation 1 . . ." We note that pursuant to Part I.D.3(b) of the Ground Water
Discharge Permit, that Cell 2 compliance in this matter will be determined after submittal ofthe 4"^
Quarter, 2010 DMT Monitoring Report.
Notice of Enforcement Discretion
Attachment G of in the subject report was provided to show the depth the readings in the leak detection
'sump as well as the volume of fluid pumped in the Cell 4A LDS for the 2"*^ Quarter of 2010. Contrary to
the requirements of Part I.F.3 of the Permit, the initial submittal of this attachment only gave information
for the month of April 2010. After a draft inquiry by DRC staff, and an email from Kathy Weinel of
DUSA, dated October 12, 2010, the missing data for the months of May and June 2010 was supplied.
Despite the incomplete / late submittal noted immediately above, the Executive Secretary has decided to
use enforcement discretion, because the omission of the data was readily corrected.
Close-out of Report Review
Although some items above are still not resolved, the subject report appears to be accurate. Therefore our
current review of this report is closed-out, as it is a report of the present status. If you have any questions,
please contact Mr. Dave Rupp of my staff
UTAH WATER QUALITY BOARD
Rusty LundbergO
Co-Executive Secretary
LM:DAR:dr
F:\drupp\DUSA\GWDPrelated docs\DMT\2010 2nd Qtr Closeout Letter-LM.doc
Report Reference; DRC-20J 0-004824