Public Notice
                                                                   ADL 421226

                          Roger Burggraf-Grant Mine Primary Mine Tailings Impoundment Closure
                                                             Restricted Use Authorization

DATE: June 5, 2023

Subject to AS 38.05.020 and AS 38.05.035, the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mining, Land, and Water, Statewide Abatement of Impaired Land (SAIL) Section is adjudicating a request for land use restrictions.

APPLICANT: Roger Burggraf

PROJECT NAME: ADL 421226 –Grant Mine Primary Mine Tailings Impoundment Closure

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: Grant Mine tailings impoundment, located near Ester Dome on Saint Patrick Road approximately 1.2 miles south of Ester Dome Road (64.8801°N, 147.9601°W).

LEGAL DESCRIPTION: Within the SW1/4 SE1/4 of Section 28 of Township 1 North, Range 2 West, Fairbanks Meridian.

REQUESTED ACTIVITY: The applicant requested a Restricted Use Authorization from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) allowing for Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Contaminated Sites Program closure of the Grant Mine tailings impoundment with Activity and Use Limitations (AULs).  The Restricted Use Authorization is for closure of the surface tailings facility resulting from past milling and underground mining operations at Grant Mine from 1981 through 1989. 

The applicant worked closely with DEC and DNR to develop a cleanup plan which includes capping the tailings impoundment and managing the flow of surface water. Proposed AULs include: maintaining the administrative record for the site in DNR’s publicly available Land Administration System and online map applications, requirements to monitor and maintain the cap and water management controls, and land use restrictions including:

1. The Grantor (DNR) shall not take any action that may negatively impact or interfere with either the response action or any operation, maintenance, inspection or monitoring of that response action without prior written approval from DEC (18 AAC 75.395). “Response action” shall mean “any action taken to respond to a release or threatened release of a contaminant, including mitigation, cleanup, or removal.”

2. The Grantor shall not take any action that may increase the risks to human health, safety, welfare, or of the environment at the site without prior written approval from DEC. This includes, but is not limited to, any activity that results in the release of residual contamination that was contained as part of the remedial action or that creates a new exposure pathway for residual contamination remaining.

3. Construct, modify, or use buildings on the contaminated area of the Property.

4. Grade, excavate, dig, till, or otherwise disturb the contaminated area of the Property.

5. Use the Property for residential purposes including child day care, educational facilities, playgrounds, hospitals, or similar facilities.

6. Subdivide or replat of the Property.

7. The Grantor shall ensure the cap is inspected every month for five years between the months of April through October following site closure and maintained as needed to prevent contact with subsurface contaminated soil, and to prevent the infiltration of water and potential leaching of contaminants. Following the first five years, the cap will be inspected every five years by DNR. The Grantor shall report any damage to the cap to DEC within ten (10) days after discovery. Grantor shall ensure the cap is repaired as quickly as possible. Documentation of the repairs shall be submitted to DEC within 30 days after discovery.

8. In the event that contaminated soil on the site becomes accessible in the future, the Grantor shall notify DEC, characterize the contamination, and, if determined necessary by DEC, cleanup the soil pursuant to DEC’s Site Cleanup Rules.

9. DEC approval is required prior to moving soil where contamination remains above applicable cleanup levels. If DEC approval for movement is granted, any moved soil must still be characterized and managed following regulations applicable at that time.
  Movement or use of contaminated material in a manner that results in a violation of 18 AAC 70 Water Quality Standards is prohibited.

The proposed AUL’s will be designed to protect human health and the environment and fulfill DEC’s requirements for site closure with institutional controls (ICs). 

An Environmental Covenant (EC) will be required and recorded into the appropriate public land records in accordance with the Uniform Environmental Covenants Act (UECA), Alaska Statute (AS) 46.04.300 through 46.03.390. Under AS 46.04.300(a) an EC is required if an environmental response project results in an engineered feature or structure that requires monitoring, maintenance, or operation or that will not function as intended if disturbed. Therefore, institutional and land-use controls (IC/LUCs) will be required to manage risks to the public and the environment.

DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS: June 20th, 2023.

You are invited to review the enclosed materials. Please direct any questions or comments you may have to Alyssa Millard, alyssa.millard@alaska.gov by the comment deadline. You need not respond if you do not have any comments. The purpose of this notice is to gather input before a decision is made on this activity. Interested parties have the right to comment during the public notice period and the commenters who are aggrieved by the final finding and decision will have the right to appeal it. It should be noted that in order to be able to appeal the final finding and decision, a person must provide written comments during the preliminary decision comment period. A copy of the final decision will be sent to any person who comments on the preliminary decision and will include an explanation of the appeal process. 

The DNR-SAIL section will hold a listening session with a brief presentation and time for a Q&A session on June 13th from 6-8 pm. Please join us in person at the Fairbanks office located at 3700 Airport Way or by the Microsoft Teams meeting link below. 

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After review and adjudication, DNR may issue a Restricted Use Authorization with stipulations that may be modified during the review and adjudication process. 

DNR-DMLW complies with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Individuals with disabilities who may need auxiliary aids, services or special modifications to comment should contact Alaska Relay at 711 or 800-770-8973 for TTY services. 
The Division of Mining, Land and Water reserves the right to waive technical defects in this publication.