This story is part of our new Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
There’s a proposal for a trona mine between Green River and Granger in southwest Wyoming, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public comment.
It’ll primarily be on BLM land within the Kemmerer field office, however a part of it is within the Rock Springs field office jurisdiction, which is going through the controversial process of a new resource management plan. According to Sweetwater Now reporting, the project will adhere to the current management plan, but will be updated if the resource management plan changes.
The agency is seeking public comment on the environmental assessment of Project West’s proposal. Some of the concerns outlined by the BLM are that it’s near critical sage grouse habitat and known big game winter migration routes. Public comment ends April 19th.
Sweetwater Now reports that the trona at the mine will be dissolved onsite and then pumped back to a processing plant just west of Little America. Trona is a mineral used in things like baking soda, paper products and laundry detergents. Southwest Wyoming has the world’s largest deposit of trona.
