MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Northeastern States District, in coordination with the USDA Forest Service, is seeking public input on a Draft Environmental Assessment evaluating the potential impacts proposed by three lease modifications at the Doe Run Company’s existing mine in southeastern Missouri. The BLM is lead agency for the Draft Environmental Assessment prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Forest Service is a cooperating agency.
The proposed leases, if approved, would extend Doe Run’s underground mining operations to an additional 1,550 acres in Reynolds and Shannon counties. The lands proposed for the lease modification contain minerals that underlay National Forest System lands managed by the Mark Twain National Forest as well as lands privately owned by Doe Run.
The BLM is opening a 30-day public comment period on the Draft Environmental Assessment for the proposed lease modifications, beginning the day after publication of a legal notice. Comments are due by October 24, 2022. Comments that identify issues relevant to the proposed action or contain new technical or scientific information are most helpful, but all comments are considered in this decision-making process. The BLM and Forest Service will analyze and incorporate (where appropriate) all substantive comments received during the public comment period and makes changes to the document, if necessary.
Additional information on the Draft Environmental Assessment and how to comment are available online at:https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2016966/510. Search under NEPA project number: DOI-BLM-Eastern States-M000-2022-0002-EA.
This project is subject to the Forest Service pre-decisional administrative review process. For more information on this process, please see the legal notice available on the ePlanning project webpage.
All public comment and objections, including names and addresses of those who comment, will become part of the public record for this project and will be subject to review pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kurt Wadzinski, Planning & Environmental Coordinator, BLM Northeastern States District. Email address: kwadzins@blm.gov. Telephone: (414) 297-4400. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message. You will receive a reply during normal business hours from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.
