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I-I
POTENTIAL INDUSTRIAL MINERAL RESOURCES
AND RESERVES
George S. Austin
Potential mineral resources and reserves within the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
(WIPP) area have been evaluated in several ways (Table 1). However, the last new
WIPP specific data were generated in 1983 (U.S. Department of Energy, 1983). Subsequent
work on mineral concentrations merely refers to these older reports and does not
add to the body of data. Therefore, the following examination of the previous work on
the mineral resources and reserves of the WIPP site stresses the pre-1984 data but also
mentions later summaries and opinions.
WIPP has been located in two separate areas through the years, and its dimensions
and shape have been modified (Fig. 1). The original site northeast of the present site is
identified as the ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Srudy Area. The present site is
identified as the Los Medaiios site. The original size of the Los Medaiios site was 18,960
acres or 29.625 mi z , had an irregular boundary, and contained four control zones (I
through IV). Some reports issued prior to the 1980 Department of Energy Final Environmental
Impact Statement or FEIS (DOE, 1980) referred to these zones as "safety zones."
In 1982, WIPP was squared off to 16 sections (16 mi z ) or about 10,240 acres.
Within the WIPP site boundary were three control zones (I-III) with the drill hole
ERDA-9 at the center (see Fig. 1). Zone I covers about 100 acres enclosed by a chainlink
fence. This zone contains the WIPP surface strucrures. Zone II defmes the maximum
extent of the planned underground development and contains about 1800 acres. The
area between the outer boundary of control zone II and the WIPP outer boundary
(identified as the WIPP site boundary) provides a minimum one-mile buffer area of intact
salt at depth around zone II. This area between zone II and the WIPP site boundary
includes all of former control zone ill of about 6,200 acres and four additional triangularshaped
areas at the corners (see F"tg. 1). Reports preceding the 1982 decision to squareoff
WIPP also have summaries for control zones I, II, and ill, which also have ERDA-9
at the center, but the area contained is only 8100 acres or 12.656 mi z . The data in these
reports are based on a control zone ill of about 6200 acres, not the present WIPP
boundary zone containing about 8340 acres (10,240 acres-zones I and II or 1900 acres).
The move frOm the ORNL site to an area about 7 mi southwest was recommended
by the U.S. Geological Survey on November 14, 1975 (Sandia National Laboratories,
1978, pp. 2-7). At about the same time, Sandia National Laboratories independently
recommended the same general area for the repository site (Sandia National Laboratories,
1977b). At that time this new site (Los Meda:iios site) was thought to be east and south of
the Known Potash Area (KPA), now known as the Known Potash Leasing Area (KPLA).
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