MORENO VALLEY, Calif. - The Bureau of Land Management Ridgecrest Field Office has made available for 30-day public comment an Environmental Assessment for the Keystone Exploratory Drilling Project located on existing unpatented lode mining claims on public lands. The public comment period for the EA will end on Oct. 9.
The Keystone Exploratory Drilling Project is located within California Desert National Conservation Lands and the Cerro Gordo-Conglomerate Mesa Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The National Park Service is a cooperating agency on the joint document, because of water rights to a spring and an existing water pipeline that crosses Death Valley National Park. All drilling will occur outside the national park and will be supported by existing roads and pads, with several of the drill sites being in existing road surfaces. The project would employ about six workers and less than one acre of new disturbance is anticipated.
“This project supports the administration’s priorities by encouraging environmentally responsible development of minerals on public lands, while creating jobs and providing economic opportunities," said BLM Ridgecrest Field Manager Carl Symons.
The draft joint Environmental Assessment can be viewed at https://go.usa.gov/xPanM, or by visiting the Ridgecrest Field Office at 300 S. Richmond Rd, Ridgecrest, CA 93555. The public is encouraged to provide written comments via mail addressed to: Bureau of Land Management, Ridgecrest Field Office, 300 S. Richmond Rd., Ridgecrest, CA 93555, or by email to rporter@blm.gov or by fax: 760-384-5499.
The public is reminded that before including personal address, phone number, email addresses, or other personal identifying information in submitted comments to be aware that the entire comment, including personal identifying information, may be made publicly available at any time. The public may request the BLM withhold personal identifying information from public review, however, the BLM cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.
For further information, contact Randy Porter, 760-384-5452, or by email: rporter@blm.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
