The NDEP Air Quality Hearing for the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine is TOMORROW in Winnemucca. We hope to see many of you there to tell NDEP, the media, and the world that we stand against the Thacker Pass lithium mine. 

Please attend IN PERSON if you can, 6pm Thursday in Winnemucca. If you cannot, please email your comments to NDEP at ndepthackerpass@ndep.nv.gov. Tell them to protect the air, land, water, and people!!

TALKING POINTS:

  • The Thacker Pass Lithium Mine will import thousands of tons of sulfur daily, and burn it, producing thousands of tons of sulfuric acid daily.
  • The Mine will burn tens of thousands of gallons of diesel fuel per day, releasing 152,713 tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent annually, the same emissions as a small city. CO2 is a powerful greenhouse gas, the main cause of climate change.
  • Toxic and greenhouse gas air pollutants that will be released from this mine include: CO2e, NOx, VOC (volatile organic compounds), SO2, H2S, H2SO4, PM, PM10, PM2.5, and other Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs).
  • H2S, Hydrogen Sulfide, is extremely toxic and flammable and effects on human health range from apnea, coma, convulsions, dizziness, and headaches to death, depending on exposure.
  • PM2.5 are tiny particles of soot that cause haze in the air, and when breathed, penetrate deep into the lungs and into the blood stream. Health impacts include premature death in people with heart or lung disease, heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, aggravated asthma, decreased lung function, and increased respiratory symptoms such as difficulty breathing.
  • The air quality of the region will decrease, perhaps dramatically, which is allowed by law, both federal and state. Currently, no public information about current levels of the toxic and greenhouse gas pollutants is available, so we will not know how much the air quality has been degraded once mining begins.
  • Communities in the area have already suffered the deadly effects of mercury and gold mining in prior years; now they will be subjected to reduced and potentially hazardous air quality, thanks to a corporation that will make huge profits by polluting the air.
  • The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) has admitted themselves that they do not deny permits. They are a rubber stamp organization that exists to permit corporations to poison people and the land.

If you send comments to NDEP, please send us a copy too, via Social Media. Tag us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram #ProtectThackerPass. Thank you!!

Use the following handout to print and/or share online—we need as many people as possible to attend the meeting and comment to NDEP about this permit.
Air Quality Permit Talking Points