A proposed enCore Energy uranium mine in South Dakota would be located along the southwestern edge of the Black Hills, in an area shown in this 2014 file image. (Courtesy of Rapid City Journal)
Federal officials have chosen a long-lingering uranium mining proposal in southwestern South Dakota for an expedited permitting process.
That doesn’t mean the Dewey Burdock project is greenlit. Instead, it means the project will be included in FAST-41, a federal process meant to improve coordination among permitting agencies and hold them accountable to deadlines. The 25-person federal Permitting Council says it can shave 18 months off a project’s review time.
The Dewey Burdock project — named for rural locations near Edgemont along the southwestern edge of the Black Hills — has been in the works for nearly two decades. It requires numerous federal, state and local permits, and has been mired in administrative and court appeals for years.
The FAST-41 process was created by Title 41 of the “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act,” signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2015. Coverage originally focused on transportation infrastructure. It was expanded to mining projects during the final days of Donald Trump’s first presidential administration in 2021.
Trump signed an executive order earlier this year directing federal officials to accelerate domestic critical mineral production, including copper, zinc, titanium and uranium. His administration is increasingly using FAST-41 to carry out the order.
Company says project could start in two years
EnCore Energy Executive Chairman William Sheriff said in a news release the Texas-based company is focused on “building a stronger domestic supply of clean and affordable energy and providing economic stimulus to southwest South Dakota.” Uranium is the key ingredient in nuclear power production.
Janet Lee-Sheriff, head of communications for enCore, said the company applied for FAST-41 with the expectation it would be a public, open and transparent process with clear deadlines.
The fast-track process can be misconstrued as “pushing permitting like a bulldozer,” Lee-Sheriff said. But there is no guarantee the project will be approved.
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“The reason we applied was because we wanted the federal process coordinated to give the state the confidence that this project will or won’t go forward,” Lee-Sheriff said.
Once the permits are dealt with at the federal level, the state can begin its own permitting process.
Within the next two months, the Permitting Council will release a schedule that federal agencies and the company are expected to meet. Updates will be posted to the project’s page on the federal Permitting Dashboard.
If everything goes according to plan, Lee-Sheriff said, the project could be cleared through the federal process by next year, and the state permitting process could begin.
“In our best case, the state would get involved once they see this moving along at the federal level and we’d be able to advance the project toward development in a couple of years,” Lee-Sheriff said.
Opponents plan to continue challenging project
EnCore said in a news release that its method would have “minimal surface disturbance” compared to open pits and tunnels used to mine uranium in the same area from the 1950s to the ’70s. Lee-Sheriff described the operation as a series of “beehives” with piping underground.
The method is known as “in situ” mining: drilling wells to inject a water-based solution underground, dissolving uranium and pumping it to the surface. The water would be pulled from local aquifers and then treated and pumped back underground after being used for mining, causing opponents to fear pollution of local water sources.
Lilias Jarding, executive director of the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, said the organization formed in 2009 in response to the Dewey Burdock project. She said the organization will continue to oppose the project because of its potential threat to groundwater and the people who rely on it.
“There is a danger to water and to human health. Those are the two main threats,” Jarding said.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe and NDN Collective have also opposed the project over concerns about potential impacts to historic and cultural sites in the Black Hills, which are central to some tribes’ traditional spiritual beliefs and practices.
Another company, Clean Nuclear Energy Corp., filed a uranium exploration permit application with South Dakota last year to explore for more uranium deposits along the southwestern edge of the Black Hills. That application, which is also opposed by the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, is under consideration by the state Board of Minerals and Environment.