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Guardians Challenges Coal Mine Expansions in Colorado
Guardians Challenges Coal Mine Expansions in Colorado
Filings with Obama Administration Target Illegal Federal Approvals at Three Mines
Contact: Jeremy Nichols, (303) 437-7663, jnichols@wildearthguardians.org
Denver—With new coalmining in Colorado threatening local communities, the climate, and cleanenergy, WildEarth Guardians took aim at illegal federal approvals at three ofthe state’s active mines.
“The coal industry is only fueling climate change andputting our future at risk, they’re gaming the system for their own profit,”said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians’ Climate and energy Program. “It’s time for the Obama Administration to defendthe American public and put an end to the coal industry’s crooked business.”
In filings today and last week, Guardians targeted threeColorado mines: the King II coal mine near Durango in La Plata County, theColowyo coal mine south of Craig in Moffat County, and the Foidel Creek mine westof Steamboat Springs in Routt County. The filings seek to put a halt to expansions of these mines.
At the Foidel Creek mine, which is owned by Peabody Energy, Guardianschallenged the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s approval of a new coal lease inMay. The lease would expand the mine by310 acres and open the door for Peabody to mine nearly one million tons ofpublicly owned coal.
At the Colowyo mine, which is owned by Tri-State Generationand Transmission, Guardians filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of SurfaceMining Reclamation and Enforcement over the agency’s proposal to approve a1,400-acre expansion. The new mining would open the door for Tri-State to minemore than 80 million tons of publicly owned coal.
At the King II mine, which is owned by the Mexican cementcompany, GCC Energy, Guardians appealed a decision by the U.S. Office ofSurface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement allowing a twofold increase in coalproduction.
The challenges come as the Obama Administration hasacknowledged a need to fix the way it manages publicly owned coal. In January of this year, the U.S. Departmentof the Interior prohibitedthe new leasing of publicly owned coal and called for a program-wide review ofits coal management.
“While the Obama Administration is moving to fix the way itmanages our publicly owned coal, the industry is still enjoying egregiousbreaks,” said Nichols. “It’s clear thatwe need to be moving away from coal, not opening the door for new mining.”
Guardians’ challenges come amid growing controversy and concernover new mining in Colorado.
At the King II mine, increasedmining has spurred complaints from local residents and sparked concerns overcontamination.
At the Colowyo mine, the federal government was chastisedlast year for illegally shirking environmental review and public scrutiny whenapproving new mining.
And at the Foidel Creek mine, the bankruptcy of the mine’sowner, Peabody, forceda local school district to seek a $1 million taxpayer bailout to maintainoperations.
Further, as Colorado coal is burned, millions of tons ofcarbon pollution are released, hindering efforts to combat climate change.
WildEarth Guardians’ latest filings aim to help put an endto the coal industry in Colorado and helpworkers and communities transition to more prosperous and sustainable economies.