Mercury storage facility receives permit

On March 31, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) issued a Notice of Decision and Statement of Basis for Granting a new RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) permit for Barrick Gold subsidiary Precious Metals Recovery, LLC for the Dry Hills Facility which will “be located on private land in an unincorporated area of northern Eureka County, approximately 12 miles east of the community Crescent Valley, Nevada. The new facility has been designed as a captive storage and treatment facility for the expressed purpose to manage mercury and mercury-containing materials generated by Barrick Gold mines in Nevada. The PMR Dry Hills Facility will consist of the following RCRA permitted units: one (1) Container Storage Area, two (2) Storage Tanks, four (4) Treatment Tanks, and three (3) Miscellaneous Units (filter press and retorts).”

NDEP held a “pre-application public meeting for the proposed PMR project in Crescent Valley on December 11, 2012, and the RCRA Permit Application for the Dry Hills Facility was received by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) in March 2013. Public notice for receipt of the new RCRA permit application was issued on March 28, 2013. The NDEP completed an administrative and technical review of the permit application, and a Draft Permit was prepared and released for public comment on December 19, 2013 through February 4, 2014. One comment was received from the Eureka County Board of Commissioners in support of the project but requested that a public hearing be held so that residents could attend, ask questions and better understand the Dry Hills Facility. The requested public hearing was held in Crescent Valley on March 25, 2014, during which NDEP provided an overview of the PMR facility and permitting process, answered questions from the attendees and provided a formal comment hearing. There were no public comments made that requested a change in the Draft Permit.”

Therefore, “NDEP has determined that the permit application and the draft permit are in compliance with the applicable federal and state hazardous waste regulations and statutes. Therefore, the NDEP is hereby granting the new permit request by issuing RCRA Permit NEVHW0028 Revision 0 to PMR. In accordance with 40 CFR 124.15(b)(3), the permit is effective as of the date of this notice. The NDEP decision may be appealed to the State Environmental Commission (SEC) within 10 days of this notice on Form 3, pursuant to the rules for Practice Before State Environmental Commission, Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) 444.980. Any person wishing to appeal this decision should contact the SEC Executive Secretary, Valerie King at (775) 687-9374 or by e-mail at vking@ndep.nv.gov to obtain the appropriate forms and procedures. Form 3 may also be printed from the SEC website at www.sec.nv.gov. The administrative record and permit application information are available for public review between the normal hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the NDEP-Bureau of Waste Management, 901 S. Stewart Street, Suite 4001, Carson City Nevada. Anyone who would like to review the administrative record or the permit may arrange a time by contacting Sree Kailash at (775) 687-9471 or skailash@ndep.nv.gov. This Notice of Decision, the RCRA Permit and Permit Application can also be viewed at NDEP’s website at http://ndep.nv.gov/admin/public.htm#waste.”