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Home My WebLink AboutDRC-2012-001171 - 0901a068802b1b79State of Utah GARY R HERBERT Governor GREG BELL Lieutenant Governor February 6 2012 DRC- 2 nfof ^ CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REOUESTED Mf David C Frydenlund Vice President and General Counsel Denison Mines (USA) Corp (DUSA) 1050 Seventeenth St Suite 950 Denver Colorado 80265 Departmem o Environmental Quality Amanda Smith Executive Director DIVISION OF RADIATION CONTROL Rusty Lundberg m Director m tr a a IZI FILE ^ 012-001171 U.S. Postal Service TM CERTIFIED MAIL. RECEIPT (Dmmestic Mail Only; Nm Insurance Cmverage PrmviM) FT delivery information visit our website at www.us|is.com» Ceitf ed Fee Retum-R iotPM _Postmar1c HI RE 2011 TEC EVALU / CLOSEOUT / RT David C Frydenlund Vice President & General Counsel Denison Mines (USA) Corp (DUSA) 1050 17th ST STE 950 Denver CO 80265 rn 3<*«. August 2M« See Reverse (•r Instructions Subject Compliance 2011 Annual Technical Evaluation of the White Mesa Uranium Mill Tailings Management System (ATER) Radioactive Matenal License Number UTl 900479 Closeout Dear Mr Frydenlund On November 16 2011 the Utah Division of Radiation Control (DRC) received the 2011 Annual Technical Evaluation of the White Mesa Uranium Mill Tailings Management System Report (ATER) After DRC review of the report the DRC held a teleconference with DUSA on October 26 2011 to discuss DRC Staff findings On December 20 2011 a Confirmatory Action and Notice of Enforcement Discretion (NOED) Letter was sent to DUSA to document the DUSA commitments made m the conference call On Febmary 3 2012 the DRC received a letter via email responding to the NOED Data published m the ATER indicated settlement of 0 64 feet at one or more settlement monitors mstalled on the westem portion of Tailings Cell 2 DUSA agreed to collect additional data to determine whether the ATER data reflected a survey error or whether the indicated settlement value was valid Data presented in the Febmary 3 2012 letter support a conclusion that the October 29 2010 survey contained an error which showed ten points all settlmg by about the same 0 64 feet Fifteen rounds of survey data subsequent to the October 29 2010 survey support a conclusion that the October 29 2010 data contains an error of approximately 0 6 feet Therefore the settlement rate of 0 04 feet is not excessive Based upon this finding the DRC considers this issue closed If you have questions regarding this issue please contact Russ Topham at (801) 536 4256 UTAH RADIATION CONTROL BOARD Rusty Lunaoerg Executive Secretary RL/RJTrjt 195 North 1950 West Salt Uke City UT Mailing Address POBox 144850 Salt Lake City UT 84114-4850 Telephone (801) 536-4250 Fax (801) 533-4097 TDD (801)536^14 wwwd q I I g Pnnted on 100/ recycled pape tr ,° Hi LTJ ir U.S. Postal Service rr, CERTIFIED MAILr. RECEIPT (Dmmestic Mail Only; Nm Insurance Cmverage PrmviM) For ilelivery information visit our website at www.us|is.com® Certif ed Fee i—1 _ ~Ct~^ •— ^ Postmark g| RE NOE D& Confirmatory Action/'RTJ David C Frydenlund ° I Vice Presiderit & General Counsel Denison Mines (USA) Corp (DUSA) 105017th ST STE 950 Denver ;CO-80265— r r^l 1^ F»rm 3**t. August 2ltS See Reverse f»r lnslructi«ns V 3Nn oanorTiToTssiiinv fJliffifau J.H01U 3HJ. Oi aJOHHANi dO dOi iV U3>l01iS 30¥nJ SENL.-. .. yj^ivin-iz ic-iniO OCO//U/V Complete items 1 2 and 3 Also complete item 4 If Restncted Delivery is desired Pnnt your name and address on the reverse so that we can return the card to you Attach this card to the back of the mailpiece or on the front if space permits COMPLETE THIS SECTION ON DELIVERY 1 Article Addressed to r RE NOE D ^Knfirmatory Action/ RT| D Is deliveryVddffi|s^fMrenf from Yes If YES entep'^Wery address below ^^^^ ! 1 <^^y David C Frydenlund Vice President & General Counsel Denison Mines (USA) Corp (DUSA) 105017th ST STE 950 Denver CO 80265 /(V5 ^ -r: rn i CS! ^ , £=: C tL 3 .Service TypP, ^ , ......... , 1^ McertifiedWl *& Express Mail c^/ '•RegistereoSy^^ Return Receiq^g^^rchandise • Insured MailX:^giG(^Dg; j 4 Restricted Delivery"? (Extra Fee) • Yes 2 Article Number (Copy from service label) 7011 DUO GOOl 7151 DD5,fi ^ ( PS Form 3811 July 1999 Domestic Return Receipt 102595 99 M 1789 r 1 < ) ) State of Utah GARY R HERBERT Goverwor GREG BELL Lieutenant Governor December 20 2011 Department of Environmental Quality Amanda Smith Executive Director DIVISION OF RADIATION CONTROL Rusty Lundbei^ Director CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REOUESTED Mr David C Frydenlund Vice President and General Counsel Denison Mines (USA) Corp (DUSA) 1050 Seventeenth St Suite 950 Denver, Colorado 80265 Subject 2011 Annual Technical Evaluation of the White Mesa Uranium Mill Tailings Management System (ATER) Ground Water Quality Discharge Permit UGW370004 Notice of Enforcement Discretion and Confirmatory Action Dear Mr Frydenlund / On November 16 2011 the Utah Division of Radiation Control (DRC) received the Annual Technical Evaluation of the White Mesa Uramum Mill Tailings Management System (dated November 7 9 2011) After review of the referenced report some issues were identified as discussed below These items were discussed with you dtmng a teleconference on October 26 2011 This letter summanzes the outcome of our staff review of the Report and the agreements made dunng the teleconference The DRC findings were as follows 1 One or more settlement momtors installed on the westem portion of Cell 2 showed settlement of about 0 64 feet This apparent settlement could be the result of survey error or actual settlement If It is actual settlement it is well in excess of the 0 1 foot that is allowed between monthly measurements imder the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved November 3 2011 Enforcement Discretion The Executive Secretary has elected to use enforcement discretion m this matter for several reasons First the apparent settlement could be the result of survey error As descnbed below DUSA will evaluate survey data from the December 2011 and January 2012 monitonng penods to determine whether survey error explains the apparent excess settlement Second the SOP was not in force until late m the penod covered by the ATER If the results of current investigations prove that the settlement is real the Executive Secretary reserves the nght to revisit enforcement action 195 North 1950 West Salt Lake City UT Maihng Address PO Box 144850 Sah Lake City UT 84114 4850 Telephone (801) 536-4250 Fax (801) 533-4097 TDD (801)536^14 www deq ut h gov Pnnted on 100/ recycled paper David C Frydenlund Page 2 December 20, 2011 Confirmatory Action DUSA will perform the required monthly settlement surveys in December 2011 and January 2012 Using this data DUSA will evaluate whether the apparent excess settlement is the result of survey error As agreed m a conference call between DRC and DUSA on December 12 2011 DUSA will provide to DRC on or before February 4 2011 results of surveys and other analyses used to determine the cause ofthe apparent excessive settlement Please respond in wnting within three calendar days of receipt of this letter if you disagree with the above agreed upon resolution or compliance schedule Thank you for your continued cooperation UTAH WATER QUALITY BOARD Rusty Lundberg Co Executive Secretary RL/RJTijt State of Utah GARY R HERBERT Governor GREG BELL Lieutenant Governor Department of Environmental Quality Amanda Smith Executive Director DIVISION OF RADIATION CONTROL Rusty Lundberg Director MEMORANDUM TO FROM DATE SUBJECT Phil Goble Section Manager Russell J Topham P E November 30 2011 Review of the 2011 Annual Techmcal Evaluation Report (dated November 7 9 2011) (ATER) Radioactive Matenals License UTl900479 (License) Demson Mines (USA) Corp (DUSA) White Mesa Mill Blanding Utah This is a summary of Utah Division of RadiaUon Control (DRC) staff review of the DUSA Annual Techmcal Evaluation Report (ATER) dated November 7 9 2011 for the Demson USA White Mesa Mill and covenng the November 1 2010 to October 31 2011 monitoring period DRC received the Report on November 16 2011 m both hard copy and soft copy CD formats Discussions in this document reference the Radioactive Matenals License UTl900479 Revision DRC 04 (License) The DMT/BAT Plan m force dunng the Period in question was executed on June 21 2010 After review of this report DRC staff findings and recommendations are as follows 1 DRC should require of DUSA a root cause analysis of the freeboard exceedance problem and adoption of a procedure sufficient to prevent ftiture violations Previous exceedance issues have been formally closed out but the root cause of the fi-eeboard exceedances has not been documented and addressed 2 DUSA should provide an explanation of the discrepancy in findings for the settlement monitors as well as the results of investigations mto the cause(s) of the excessive displacements identified Maintaining Required Freeboard 1 Section 3 0 of Appendix D to the License establishes freeboard limits for the tailings cells These elevations can be modified through Executive Secretary action or through License amendment During the reporting penod the freeboard requirements for Cells 3 and 4A were modified by Executive Secretary action documented m letters dated January 27 2011 and March 14 2011 The March 14 2011 letter from the Executive Secretary formally closed out the violation issues associated with exceedances to that date but did not address the broader issue of why the exceedances occurred in the first place 2 On Page 3 of the ATER DUSA asserts In an effort to maintain fi-eeboard limits solutions were transferred between cells On Page 5 of the ATER DUSA states solution is penodically 168 North 1950 West Sah Lake City UT Mailing Address POBox 144850 Sah Lake City UT 84114-4850 Telephone (801) 536 4250 Fax (801) 533-4097 TDD (801)536-4414 www deq t lig Pnnted 0 100/ ecycled paper Page 2 pumped back and forth between cell 4A Cell 3 and Cell 1 I to maintain required freeboard limits in the entire system 3 DUSA claims on Page 5 of the ATER that no freeboard exceedances were detected for Cell 1 I for the reporting penod 4 Page 6 of the ATER references removal of the fi-eeboard limit for Cell 3 through Executive Secretary action during the monitoring period DUSA reveals on Page 7 of the ATER that until removal of the freeboard limit Cell 3 solution pool elevations consistently exceeded the fi-eeboard limits established m the License 5 Page 7 of the ATER references removal of the freeboard limit for Cell 4A through Executive Secretary action during the monitonng period DUSA reveals on Pages 7 8 of the ATER that m January 2011 pnor to removal of the freeboard limit Cell 4A solution pool elevations consistently exceeded the freeboard limits established in the License 6 On Page 8 of the ATER DUSA indicates that Cell 4B solution pool elevations did not exceed freeboard limits established in the License dunng the reporting period 7 Based on items 1 through 6 above it appears that DUSA consistently operated outside the freeboard limits of the License dunng the monitonng penod until Cell 4B was placed in service Solution pool elevation maintenance protocols have not prevented exceeding the limits imposed in the License DRC has been working with DUSA over the monitonng penod as evidenced by the cited Executive Secretary letters DRC should require DUSA to provide a root cause analysis ofthe freeboard exceedance problem and adoption of a procedure sufficient to prevent ftiture violations In light ofthe ongoing dialog on this issue a Notice of Enforcement Discretion would seem appropriate Monitormg of Settlement and Lateral Displacement 1 Momtonng of lateral and vertical movement of the tailings cell dikes and cover provides important measures of the stability of the cells Settlement plates provide a common set of locations from which to measure vertical displacements of the ground surface Most plates show expected degrees of settlement indicating stability of the cell dikes and proper filling of void spaces during material placement 2 Page 9 of the ATER contams language asserting settlement on the order of 0 64 feet for all settlement monitors referenced to one of several control points The subject points cover part of the westem end of Cell 2 DUSA assumes disturbance of the control point used for vertical reference or techmcian error have responsibility for this apparent subsidence condition DUSA promises follow up measurements to clanfy this issue No time table is provided 3 According to the ATER Cell 3 settlement monitors show subsidence within expectation i e less than 0 1 foot between successive monthly readings 4 On November 3 2011 the Executive Secretary granted approval of a document called Movement (Displacement) Monitoring Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) which among other things defines the demarcation between acceptable and unacceptable settlement rates Such limits were not in place pnor to approval of the SOP The ATER was wntten within the first month following approval of the SOP Page 3 5 The SOP requires an mvestigation and possible corrective actions if a difference of greater than 0 1 foot of elevation is detected m any one monitor The SOP requires resurvey of the affected monitor documentation of site conditions intemal wntten commumcation ofthe suspected causes ofthe excessive displacement and reporting to the Executive Secretary within 30 days The data will also appear m the ATER a condition which was met 6 A detailed review of the survey data for the settlement monitors reveals all Cell 2 settlement monitors exhibiting settlement withm the 0 1 foot month to month limit but shows Momtor 3 IN settling 0 32 feet between June 14 and July 29 2011 with subsequent monitonng substantiating the excess settlement 7 DUSA should provide an explanation of the discrepancy in findings for the settlement monitors as well as the results of investigations mto the cause(s) of the excessive displacements identified 0 2^'0^ ^