Citizens across the state are petitioning the hearing of a uranium mining company. Powertech Uranium Corp. has applied for two water rights permits for proposed in situ mining of the Inyan Kera and Madison aquifers, the main water sources in western South Dakota. South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources engineer Eric Gronlund says citizens and group leaders are petitioning because of concerns over water availability and other public issues.
“The water permit applications were public notice and as a part of the public notice process, there is the ability for citizens to intervene in the hearing process so that they can participate in the hearing. In addition, there is a provision that any petitioner can request basically a one-time postponement of the hearing. We have received a number of petitions on the water permit application and a number of those also included that request for a delay, says Gronlund. So we have cancelled the December 5 hearing date and it will be scheduled, in all likelihood, for this spring.”
Gronlund says the Water Management Board will be reviewing water availability and if rights would be impaired by the mining. Besides the two water permits, Powertech must also receive several other state permits, as well as federal licenses through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and EPA.