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*Uranium suit could affect West End mill proposal* /By Dick Kamp Wick Communications Environmental Liaison/ DENVER �EUR �  Environmental groups now will get a peek at previously blocked files on how 31 Uravan-area uranium leases were issued. � Friday, 10th Circuit Judge Wiley Daniel overturned a Magistrate Court decision that had denied the groups access to U.S. Department of Energy documents justifying why each lease would not require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act. The leases at issue were put out to bid in 2007 and issued in June 2008. A month later, Durango-_base_d attorney Travis Stills filed suit on behalf of the Colorado Environmental Coalition, the Center for Native Ecosystems, the Center for Biological Diversity and INFORM. Stills is with the nonprofit Energy and Minerals Law Center. The Bureau of Land Management had suggested to DOE contractors in September 2005 that the uranium mine leases could cause �EURoewater depletion and/or toxic discharges that may affect four species of endangered Colorado River fish downstream �EUR- and three species of sensitive fish and that .... rainbow trout may be affected in the area and downstream,�EUR? says a document provided by the plaintiffs. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also suggested in a March 2006 letter that the DOE was not adequately protecting migratory birds and had done an inadequate job of listing protected plants. We've alleged that DOE has done certain things; now we'll get sworn response regarding how they approved these mines, and we will find out specifically what has been going on instead of relying on guesswork concerning our government, Stills said. Potential mill impacts The suit could affect the proposed Energy Fuels Pi�on Ridge yellowcake mill on the West End of Montrose County, agree Stills and Energy Fuels CEO George Glasier. All uranium leases in the Uravan mining district are issued by the DOE, and though Energy Fuels is not a defendant in the lawsuit, it has six of the DOE mining leases under dispute, Glasier said. The Cotter Corp. obtained 10 of the leases, several of them adjacent to the proposed mill site on private land 12 miles east of Paradox. Montrose County issued a special-use permit for the proposed mill last September (challenged by Stills in a separate lawsuit), and an application by Energy Fuels to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will get its first hearing today in Nucla. If the mill is built, Cotter says, it will process uranium ore from nearby mines. Energy Fuels' Whirlwind and Energy Queen mines, now on hold, are the company's main sources of raw material for the mill. The county has prohibited any radioactive wastes to be processed in the mill. The EIS demanded by the lawsuit would require in-depth evaluation of environmental, health and social aspects of a potential project by all relevant federal agencies. The EIS would discuss alternatives, including no action. All federal agencies in a DOE decision on uranium leasing would use the EIS process as a basis for determining what a permit holder could do. A permit could be accepted, altered by the main agency or rejected. Stills says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, DOE, Mining Safety and Health Administration, BLM and the U.S. Forest Service would need to review mines and mills that process their ore. (The) National Environmental Policy Act requires one environmental evaluation process that encompasses the past, present and future, Stills said. By giving these leases out, the federal government is underwriting the development of another uranium boom. You need to evaluate older leases, such as the Energy Fuels' Whirlwind mine, aswell as past impacts of DOE leases that have taken place. Some potential effects could be obvious, he said. If the Pi�on Ridge uranium mill is downstream of a DOE lease mine, and a mine needs to feed a mill, that's all you need to know. If the Cotter mines on these leases provide feed to the mill, then the mill must be evaluated in the light of all action, Stills said. Examples include past radioactive contamination of the Dolores River, potential impacts on Colorado River fish and environmental impacts of future tailings at Pi�on Ridge that the DOE will have to manage in perpetuity. Glasier said if the plaintiffs win a requirement for a full EIS, the courts could, in theory, nullify the leases. That might not affect us hugely, since we are still simply exploring and cleaning up old works to see what the potential might be in these mine sites, he said. Our feedstock (raw material) comes from other mines, and the Energy Queen is on private land. The DOE can conduct all the EISes they want on the mill if the lawsuit forces them to do so;we are seeking a state authorization, and not a federal one. But Stills said Pi�on Ridge tailings would need to be licensed by the EPA under the Clean Air Act because of radon emissions. The EPA has become highly conscious of their obligations to regulate the tailings as the result of a separate lawsuit they have settled, he said. Energy Fuels will have to get an EPA permit for their mill, and this is more complex than they admit. David Geiser, acting deputy director of the DOE Office of Legacy Management in charge of uranium leasing, referred requests for comment to the Department of Justice. The DOJ declined comment because of ongoing litigation, but DOJ representative Andrew Ames said that a conference between all parties in February will establish next steps in the case.