Public hearing scheduled for new bentonite mine

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) plans to move forward with the permitting process for a new bentonite mine a couple of miles outside of Pine Haven with a public hearing to consider objections from citizens regarding its potential impact on air quality.

This meeting was set to take place in February but, due to inclement weather, was rescheduled.

The 317-acre operation, named the Keyhole State Project, is under the auspices of parent company Black Hills Bentonite LLC, which is, in turn, leasing said site from the State of Wyoming.

In September of last year, DEQ director Todd Parfitt approved Black Hill’s application to create the Keyhole State Project. The hearing will allow those who have objections to voice their concerns before the agency permits the mine for maintaining required standards for air quality.

The permit application states that there will be no blasting and no processing facilities including hot mix asphalt and concrete batch plants on the mine-site. However, according to the company’s application, 17 homes are within one mile of the active site, with the nearest resident within 400 feet.

For this and other reasons, this proposed mine has elicited concern from a number of Pine Haven area residents since reports were first discussed at the end of 2022. These individuals have made comments on the proposal regarding the impact that a mine at the planned location would have on the residents of Pine Haven and the surrounding area.

One such letter, written by a local homeowner, said, “The location of the proposed mine is only two miles from the town of Pine Haven…There are many reasons I do not want this mining operation this close to my home.

“This type of surface mining creates a lot of dust, some of which is toxic. The dust cloud will be created by the mining activity, but it will not subside when the mining activity stops at the end of the day because the wind will, at times, carry dust for miles from the various stockpile of topsoil, overburden, bentonite and other disturbed areas.”

Another petition for a public hearing came from a local property owner, who wrote, “When addressing the predominant wind direction in ‘Location of Mine Operations’, the rural subdivisions to east and southeast of the mine location were not acknowledged. There are close to 300 citizens residing in the subdivisions with rural Moorcroft addresses.”

According to the public notice issued by the agency, DEQ is not acting in an adversarial position at this hearing. The department is simply seeking to ascertain whether the operation can be conducted within agency air quality standards.

Public input at this meeting will be limited to the question of air quality; namely, any perceived issue with possible pollutants the mine may agitate into the air.

The public hearing is scheduled for Monday, April 10, at 6 p.m., at the Pine Haven Community Center,