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from all environmental stakeholders interviewed that Thacker Pass will be used as a standard for future mining projects, with a stakeholder commenting, “the way this was permitted and rolled-out sets an enormously bad example.” County officials refute the idea that the EIS was fast-tracked, citing that Lithium Nevada had been reporting their findings to the BLM for the past seven years. To the County, the permitting process was not the six months of action from the EIS, but the years of preparation and mitigation planning. However, no environmental organization interviewed accepted this rationale and commented the EIS was of poor quality. All stakeholders noted that consistency across federal administrations representing opposing political parties is an underlying point of contention within government agencies. Further, there is concern that given the urgency of climate change combined with the current federal administration’s efforts to reduce emissions, the state and federal agencies will not hold Lithium Nevada as accountable for environmental compliance as they should. One environmental stakeholder believed more weight needs to be put on holistic approaches and long- term impacts, putting an emphasis on performing environmental reviews correctly so that ecosystems and people are not harmed as we attempt to address climate change. Reclamation Strategies Stakeholders agree that as an open pit mine, the Thacker Pass project will disturb the land and landscape. Still, the consequences of long-term impacts are disputed and raise questions about what the reclamation process will look like and how long will parties be responsible for the land itself. Two stakeholders explicitly mentioned that the mitigation plans for mine reclamation and closure appear to be a box-checking exercise for the BLM and industry. They noted that a new framework is needed so that, “perpetual treatment would extend liability for decades to centuries, not just years. Previous efforts to return land back to its previous state have been terrible.” Another stakeholder mentioned the legacy of mining in the Intermountain West: “you can’t go fishing in some streams and rivers because of the mercury. This is the legacy of mining in the 1800s.” The stakeholder went on to ask, “Was this mining really worth all those metals? To be pulled out back then? Where we are now is no different”. Again, County officials referred to Nevada’s new mining policies, pointing to the work of the Reclamation Branch of Nevada’s Nevada Department of Environmental Protection (NDEP). As to not perturb the landscape drastically and leave an open scar in the land, Lithium Nevada plans to fill in the mine as they work for the next 41 years. The Larger Issue: Federal Legislation At odds with current conservation efforts at Thacker Pass is the larger framework that supports mining in the US, whose foundations rest on the General Mining Law of 1872 and the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920. Multiple stakeholders referenced the 1872 Mining Law as the cornerstone of how industry and society has approached mining for 150 years. According to these stakeholders, the law allows industry to follow a different set of rules that prioritizes “mining claims” over other land uses and environmental consequences. One stakeholder noted that the law was written in a different time and reflects different values, and that the U.S. sees mining and conservation differently today: “the real issue is on the concentration of resources, but ‘resources’ is never interpreted as environmental resources, but solely as mineral resources. We need to broaden the scope of interpreting that law”. This relates to the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 that prioritizes mining as the highest and best use for public land. In following these precedents, a stakeholder commented, “nothing else matters.” Still, other federal and state legislation is used to guide permitting processes and protect water, air, and the surrounding environment. In sum, without changing federal legislation, environmental stakeholders believe the U.S. will be caught in a cycle where mining outweighs all other potential land uses and allows industry to evade stronger regulations. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT The community engagement efforts of Lithium Nevada, Humboldt County, and BLM are described as insufficient by multiple stakeholders. While community engagement related to lithium extraction was raised as a stakeholder concern within the Salton Sea region, the level of outreach and inclusion noted at the Salton Sea stands in stark contrast to perceptions about the processes surrounding the Thacker Pass project. Common themes expressed by environmental stakeholders include limited interactions, objections to the degradation of cultural Potential Lithium Extraction in the United States: Environmental, Economic, and Policy Implications 63 AUGUST 2022PDF Image | Potential Lithium Extraction in the United States
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