Idaho State Journal
September 17, 2009

SODA SPRINGS -- Officials with several state agriculture groups have publicly endorsed Monsanto's proposed Blackfoot Bridge Mine.

Food Producers of Idaho, the Idaho Farm Federation, the Idaho Grain Producers Association and the Idaho Sugarbeet Growers Association have all endorsed the Bureau of Land Management's preferred alternative included in its draft environmental impact statement, which is now the subject of a public comment period.

The plan calls for the use of a laminated geosynthetic clay liner. The proposed open-pit mine 10 miles north of Soda Springs would haul phosphate ore via trucks about eight miles to Soda Springs for processing. The mine would disturb 76 acres of public land and 663 private acres. It is expected to have a 17-year life span and would consist of three open pits and two external overburden piles. Once the mine is exhausted, reclamation efforts would fill one pit completely, while two other pits would be partially backfilled and the two overburden piles capped.
The public comment period has been extended until Oct. 31.

The Idaho Farm Bureau is soliciting public comments on a Web link it has created about the mine -- go to http://www.idahofb.org/ and click on Monsanto Mine.

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