Commercial oil sands mining in the Book Cliffs may soon become a reality as hearings on May 16 and 17 in Salt Lake City could resolve the nagging issue of potential groundwater pollution.
In a first of a kind public hearing, state regulators heard evidence on Utah’s Division of Water Quality’s initial approval of the groundwater discharge permit for U.S. Oil Sands.
The Division of Environmental Quality gave U.S. Oil Sands, formerly Earth Energy Resources, a groundwater discharge permit in March 2008 for the PR Springs Oil Sands Mine.
In September 2009, the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining granted a large scale mine permit to U.S. Oil Sands to allow mining on a 100-acre affected area parcel. The Vernal Express
