Protecting Pactola and Rapid Creek Watershed from mining

RAPID CITY – Comments are being accepted through October 21, 2024, by the USDA Forest Service about their proposal to ban mining around Pactola Reservoir and Rapid Creek Watershed. The Forest Service has requested that 20,574 acres around Pactola Reservoir be withdrawn from mining for 20 years.

The Forest Service has said the purpose of the withdrawal is to protect the cultural and natural resources of the Pactola Reservoir-Rapid Creek Watershed, including the drinking water for Rapid City and Ellsworth Air Force Base from the negative impacts of mineral exploration and development.

Unrestrained mining for more than a century in the Black Hills has left the landscape scarred and the water polluted. Companies notoriously were allowed to abandon their prospects once they dried up, leaving a legacy of lasting and widespread damage across the Black Hills and the foothills. One example includes an 18-mile stretch of Whitewood Creek that became a Superfund site after 100 years of contamination by the Homestake Gold Mine. Homestake released arsenic into the Cheyenne River for decades and water was still found to be contaminated in 2017. A 2016 study by the School of Mines found elevated levels of uranium at Angostura Reservoir caused by mining runoff. The elevated uranium levels could be traced to abandoned uranium mines across the area and mill near Edgemont. It is believed that some of the waste is from a 1962 dam break in Edgemont that released 200 tons of radioactive uranium mill waste into the Cheyenne River.

The history of the area is ancient. The Black Hills uplift – the process of creating mountains – contains some of the oldest rock known in the northern Great Plains and is estimated to be of Precambrian age, the earliest period of Earth’s history, ranging from more than 2.5 to 1.6 billion years old.

Carla Rae Marshall (Mnicoujou/Oglala Lakota), of the Black Hills Water Alliance said that the Oceti Sakowin Oyate (Sioux) have used the Hills for eons. He Sapa as they are called by the Oceti, are of great significance to the Oceti. “He Sapa holds our creation stories, our coming into being as human beings. Our story tells us we came from Wind Cave. Wind Cave gave us breath. He Sapa hold our ancient teachings, our stories, our historical events, they hold eons of memory in our DNA and water is our main entity.” Rae explained the name for Rapid Creek is Mniluzahan – ‘mni’ translated means water and ‘luzahan’ means to move fast. “He Sapa has been known to us as Wamaka Ognaka Icante which means ‘the heart of everything that is.’ This ancient island on the prairie is our sacred site, it provides us with our natural medicines, food and healing waters and is home to thousands of species of wildlife.”

Marshall noted two other creeks – Elk Creek and Box Elder – that are also impacted by mining pollution and they in turn impact the quality of the water in the aquifers. “The Madison and Mniluzahan are the two most important aquifers in the Black Hills,” said Rae. But all aquifers are important as they carry, store and supply water. The South Dakota Geological Survey found that about 52 percent of public drinking water systems rely solely on ground water and almost 74-percent of the state citizens use groundwater as their source of drinking water.

The proposed withdrawal area is about 10 miles west of Rapid City and is within the boundaries of the Mystic Ranger District and does include private land interspersed with federal lands. The non-federal lands are not included in the withdrawal application and would not be subject to the requested withdrawal.

Under certain circumstances, mining claimants with existing claims would still be approved to perform certain activities within the subject area but those activities would require an additional evaluation by the USFS.

The 2024 mineral potential report reached the same conclusions as a prior report that the mineral potential was classified as low for leasable commodities and so determined to have no mineral occurrence potential and no development potential across the entire application area.

“Today we must work fast to protect our heart,” said Rae as she was giving a recent presentation to 20 concerned citizens about the efforts to protect the land and the water from new mining interests. The Lakota People’s Law Project says that mining exploration has exacerbated the stress on the land contamination of the water.

Another proposed project would take place in the Craven Canyon area in the wild backcountry of the southern Black Hills. The Forest Service has said that this is a world-class historical and cultural site and its importance cannot be overestimated. The petroglyphs and hieroglyphs there are estimated to be more than 7,000 years old. The nearby Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary is estimated to be at least 10,000 years old, dating back to the last Ice Age.

Canadian company Basin Uranium, operating under its subsidiary Clean Nuclear Energy Corp. (CNEC), has filed two applications for permits to explore part of its Chord Project which includes the Craven Canyon area.

The Black Hills Clean Water Alliance (BHCWA) said that a lot of time and effort have gone into protecting this area over the decades. In a press release, the Alliance said timing is critical as members of the public, governments, and organizations will only have 20 days from when there is public notice about the project until the deadline for people/groups/governments to become intervenors in the state’s permitting process.

CNEC is currently preparing to submit the proposed project to the State Historical Preservation Office (SHPO). It’s expected that the state will sign off on the project by the end of October. While it plans to gather information from tribal members first the state is not giving Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs) the chance to consent or disagree.

Should the project be approved, then the state Board of Minerals and Environment will hold a public hearing. Basin is planning to have a drilling permit by early next year and the Alliance said that the permitting process would move quickly should that happen.

The Alliance said that if the public continues to oppose uranium mining in the Black Hills, it’s possible that Basin/CNEC may not get the permit at all.

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@gmail.com)

The post Protecting Pactola and Rapid Creek Watershed from mining first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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