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Home My WebLink AboutDRC-2011-007865 - 0901a068802b1b7a-2D11-007865 Department of Environmental Quality Amanda Smith Executive Director DIVISION OF RADIATION CONTROL ^ State of Utah Ul VISION ( GARY R HERBERT Rusty Lundberg Governor Director GREG BELL Lieutenant Governor August 15 2011 CERTIFIED MAIL (Return Receipt Requested) Mr David C Frydenltmd Vice President and General Counsel Denison Mines (USA) Corp (DUSA) 1050 Seventeenth St Suite 950 Denver Colorado 80265 IT EO U.S. Postal Service r,, CERTIFIED MAIL,. RECEIPT (Dmmestic Mail Only; Nm Insurance Cmverage PrmviM) JD i-=l tr ru ir a o o CO JD HI IT o o For delivery information visit our website at www.us|is.comt. OFFICIAL USE Postage Certified Fee $ Postage Certified Fee RE 8/15/11 NOV UGW11 04 / PRG David C Frydenlund Vice President & General Counsel Denison Mines (USA) Corp (DUSA) 105017th ST STE 950 Denver CO 80265 PS Farm 3ltt. August 2»ti Subject DUSA 4* Quarter 2010 (dated Febmary 28 2011) Groundwater Monitonng Report Notice of Violation and Compliance Order, Docket No UGWll-04 Dear Mr Frydenlund The enclosed Notice of Violation and Compliance Order ( NOV/CO ) is based on Division of Radiation Control (DRC) findings from the review of the DUSA 4''' Quarter 2010 Groundwater Momtonng Report for the White Mesa Uramum Mill facility near Blandmg Utah Please give this order your immediate attention A wntten response is required within 30 calendar days after receipt of this NOTICE This order is fully enforceable unless appealed m wnting withm 30 calendar days, as descnbed m the "Notice" section of this NOV/CO Any response or written answer to this NOV/CO should be addressed to Rusty Lundberg, Co Executive Secretary, Utah Water Quality Board, 195 North 1950 West, P O Box 144850, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114 4850 UTAH WATER QUALITY BOARD Rusty Lundberg Co Executive Secretary Enclosure Notice ofViolation and Order Docket No UGWll 04 195 North 1950 West SaU Lake City UT Mailing Address POBox 144850 SaU Uke City UT 84114-4850 Telephone(801)536-4250 Fax (801)533-4097 TDD (801)536-4414 www d q utal go Pnnted on 100/ ecycled paper UTAH WATER QUALITY BOARD i IN THE MATTER OF 1 Demson Mines (USA) Corp i 1050 SEVENTEENTH ST SUITE 950 Ll?ENVER, COLOR^^^ DOCKET NUMBER UGWll 04 NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND COMPLIANCE ORDER A STATUTORY AUTHORITY This NOTICE OF VIOLATION and COMPLIANCE ORDER (NOV/CO) is issued to Denison Mines (USA) Corporation (hereinafter DUSA) facility, by the UTAH WATER QUALITY BOARD (hereinafter the BOARD) under the Utah Water Quality Act Utah Code Ann ^§ 19 5 101 to 19 5 123 (the ACT) including sections 19 5 104, 19 5 106, 19 5-111 and 19 5 115 This NOV/CO is also issued in accordance with the Utah Administrative Procedures Act Utah Code Ann §§ 63G4 101 to 63G 4 601 The BOARD has authonzed the Co Executive Secretary ofthe Board (Co Executive Secretary) to issue such NOTICES AND ORDERS in accordance with §19 5 106(8) ofthe Utah Code B APPLICABLE STATUTORY AND REGULATORY PROVISIONS 1 DUSA was issued Ground Water Quality Discharge Permit No UGW370004 (hereinafter Permit) on March 8 2005 Said Permit was modified by the Co Executive Secretary on March 17, 2008 January 20 2010 June 17, 2010, and was last modified on Febmary 15 2011 2 I E Ka) of the Permit requires that all samplmg shall be conducted to ensure collection ofthe representative samples and reliability and validity of groundwater monitoring data All groundwater sampling shall be conducted in accordance with the currently approved Groundwater Monitoring Quality Assurance Plan 3 I E 1(b) of the Permit requires that Quarterly Monitoring the Permittee shall monitor on a quarterly basis all monitoring wells listed in Table 2 of this Permit where local groundwater average linear velocity has been found by the Executive Secretary to be equal to or greater than 10 feet/year For purposes of this Permit quarterly monitoring is required at the following wells 1 Upgradient Wells none 2 Lateral or Downgradient Wells MWll MW-14 MW 25 MW 26 (formerly TW4-15) MW30 MW31 andMW35 3 Future Cell 4B Downgradient Wells to be Installed quarterly monitoring shall begin within 30 calendar days of installation ofnew groundwater monitoring wells MW 36 MW 37 or any other well required by Part IH4 of this Permit and continue until otherwise determined by the Executive Secretary pursuant to PartI H 5 4 Part IF 1 of the Permit requires that the Permittee shall submit quarterly monitoring reports offield and laboratory analyses of all well monitoring and samples described in Parts IEI IE 2 IE 3 IE 5 and IE 7 of this Permit for Executive Secretary review and August 15 2011 Docket No UGWll 04 Page 1 approval Reports shall be submitted according to the following schedule Quarter Period Due Date First January March June 1 Second April June September 1 Third July - September December 1 Fourth October December March 1 5 Part I G 1 of the Permit requires that ' Accelerated Monitoring Status is required if the concentration of a pollutant in any compliance monitoring sample exceeds a GWCL in Table 2 ofthe Permit the facility shall then a) Notify the Executive Secretary in writing within 30 calendar days of receipt of data and b) Immediately initiate accelerated sampling of the pollutant as follows 1) Quarterly Baselme Monitoring Wells - for wells defined by Part IE 1(b) the Permittee shall initiate monthly monitoring 2) Semi annual Baseline Monitoring Wells - for wells defined by Part IE 1(c) the Permittee shall initiate quarterly monitoring —Said accelerated monitoring shall continue at the frequencies defined above until the compliance status of the facility can be determined by the Executive Secretary 6 The DUSA Quality Assurance Plan (hereinafter DUSA QAP) was onginally dated November 17 2006 (Revision 1 0) and was approved by the Co Executive Secretary on December 1 2006 The DUSA QAP was later revised by DUSA on November 18 2008 and subsequently approved by the Co Executive Secretary on March 30 2009 Most recenfly DUSA proposed another revision to the DUSA QAP, dated March 22 2010 (Revision 6 0) which was approved by the Co Executive Secretary on Apnl 30 2010 7 Section 7 1 of the DUSA QAP requires that Documentation ofobservations and data from sampling provide important mformation about the sampling process and provide a permanent record for sampling activities All observations and field samplmg data will be recorded in waterproof ink on the Field Data Worksheets which will be mamtamed on file at the Mill The Field Data Worksheets will also contain detailed notes describing any other significant factors durmg the sampling event mcluding as applicable condition ofthe well cap and lock water appearance color odor clarity presence of debris or solids any variances from this Procedure and any other relevant feature or condition An example ofa Field Data Worksheet that incorporates this information is attached as Attachment 1 C FINDINGS OF FACT 1 The DUSA facility receives and processes natural uranium heanng ores and certain specified altemate feed matenals and possesses byproduct matenal in the form of uranium waste tailings and other uranium byproduct waste generated by the licensee s milling August 15 2011 Docket No UGWl 1 04 Page 2 operations This facility is located approximately 6 miles south of Blanding Utah on a tract of land in Sections 28 29, 32, and 33, Township 37 South Range 22 East Salt Lake Baseline and Mendian San Juan County Utah 2 DUSA contacted the DRC by telephone and followed with a letter on January 26 2011 to notify the DRC that 10 groundwater samples and one blind duplicate were analyzed after die 28 day holding time for mercury for the 4* Quarter, 2010 monitonng event 3 DUSA submitted a report titled White Mesa Uranium Mill Groundwater Monitonng Report 4*** Quarter (October December) 2010 to the DRC dated February 28 2011 (hereinafter 4* Quarter, 2010 Report; This report was received by the DRC by its respective due date (March 1 2011) 4 Contrary to Parts I E 1(b)(2) and I G 1(b)(1) ofthe Peimit, DUSA failed to accelerate samples for TDS in wells MW 26 and MW 31 and Uranium m well MW 25 dunng December of 2010 5 Contrary to Part I E 1 (a) ofthe Permit and Section 8 2 and Table 1 of the DUSA QAP DUSA failed to perform analysis for mercury in 10 wells (MW 1 MW 3 MW 3A MW 12 MW 18 MW 19 MW 20 MW 23 MW 26 andMW 34) and one blind duplicate (MW 70) within the recommended holding time (28 days) 6 Contrary to Part I E 1 (a) ofthe Permit and Section 7 1 and Attachment 1 of the DUSA QAP DUSA failed to use the currently approved Field Data Worksheet for Groundwater for the 4* Quarter (November) and December, 2010 monitonng events as found in Attachment 1 of the currendy approved DUSA QAP, Revision 6 0 D VIOLATIONS Based on the foregoing FINDINGS OF FACT, DUSA is in violation of the following 1 Parts I E 1(b)(2) and I G 1(b)(1) ofthe Permit for failing to accelerate samples for TDS in wells MW 26 and MW 31 and Uranium in well MW 25 dunng December of 2010 This is also a continuing violation previously cited in three DRC NOVs dated January 11 2008 (UGW07 04) February 28 2008 (UGW08 01) and Apnl 1 2008 (UGW08 02) 2 Part IE 1 (a) ofthe Permit and Section 8 2 and Table 1 ofthe DUSA QAP for failing to perfonn analysis for mercury in 10 wells (MW 1 MW 3 MW 3 A MW 12 MW 18 MW 19 MW 20 MW 23 MW 26 and MW 34) and one blind duplicate (MW 70) within the recommended holding time (28 days) This is also a continuing violation previously cited m the Apnl 1 2008 NOV (UGW08 02 Violation #3) 3 Part I E 1(a) ofthe Permit and Section 7 1 and Attachment 1 of the DUSA QAP for failing to use the currendy approved Field Data Worksheet for Groundwater for the 4* Quarter (November) and December 2010 monitonng events as found in Attachment 1 ofthe currently approved DUSA QAP, Revision 6 0 August 15 2011 Docket No UGWll 04 Page 3 E ORDER In view of the foregoing FINDINGS and pursuant to Utah Code Annotated Section 19 3 108 DUSA is hereby ordered to 1 Immediately initiate all actions necessary to achieve compliance with all applicable provisions of the Utah Water Quality Act, Ground Water Quality Rules in the Utah Administrative Code and the Permit (including but not limited to requirements ofthe DUSA QAP) 2 Submit a report to the Co-Executive Secretary within 30 days of receipt of this NOV and Order to include but not be limited to the following items a The root cause of the noncompliance ^ b Corrective steps taken or to be taken to prevent re occurrence of the noncompliance, c Date when compliance was/or will be achieved F NOTICE Compliance with the provisions of this NOV/CO is mandatory Under the Division s Penalty Cntena for Civil Setflement Negotiations Utah Administrative Code § R317 1 8 DUSA's good faith efforts to comply with this Compliance Order may impact the monetary penalty that could apply in a settlement Providing false information may subject DUSA to further civil penalties or cnminal fines UCA § 19 5 115 provides that a violation of the ACT or a related order may be subject to a civil penalty of up to $ 10 000 per day of violation Under certam circumstances of willfulness or gross negligence violators may be fined up to $25,000 per day of violation G CONTESTING THIS NOV/CO This NOV/CO is effective immediately and shall become final unless contested in wnting within thirty (30) days after the date this NOV/CO was signed See Utah Administrative Code § R317 9 3(3) Any fiirther administrative proceedings in this case shall be conducted formally under Utah Code Ann §§ 63G4 101 through 63G 4 601 To contest this NOV/CO, you must respond in wnting and must comply with the requirements of the Administrative Rules of the Water Quality Board, found at Utah Administrative Code § R317 9 and with the requirements of the Utah Administrative Procedures Act including Utah Code Ann § 63 G 4 201(3)(a) and (b) and Adjudicative Proceedings in UAC 19 1 301 Those provisions of the Utah Administrative Procedures Act require among other things, that you state your factual and legal reasons for disagreeing with the Notice of Violation or Compliance Order, and that you state the action that you would like the agency to take (e g withdrawing the NOV/CO) August 15 2011 Docket No UGWll 04 Page 4 A response contesting this NOV/CO must be received by the Co Executive Secretary within 30 calendar days of receipt of this NOV/CO (Mailing address) (Address for by hand or ovemight delivery) Rusty Lundberg Co Executive Secretary Utah Water Quality Board 195 North 1950 West P O Box 144850 Sah Lake City UT 84114 4850 Rusty Lundberg, Co Executive Secretary Utah Water Quality Board 195 North 1950 West Sah Lake City UT 84116 - You will not be allowed to contest this NOV/CO m court or in any other fomm if you do not first contest the NOV/CO as descnbed above Signed this day of August 2011 UTAH WATER QUALITY BOARD Rusty Lundberg Co Executive Secretary August 15 2011 Docket No UGWll 04 Page 5