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Western Colorado Coal Mine Threatens Climate, Clean Air

Date
February 23, 2011
Contact
Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x 1303
In This Release
Climate + Energy  
#KeepItInTheGround
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Western Colorado Coal Mine Threatens Climate, Clean Air

Conservation Groups Challenge Wasteful Dirty Energy Development
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x 1303

Denver—With cleanair and the climate at stake, WildEarth Guardians and the Sierra Club lateyesterday sought to overturn a U.S. Bureau of Land Management decisionauthorizing the expansion of the Elk Creek coal mine in western Colorado.

“This is a dirty energy disgrace,” said Jeremy Nichols,Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians. “Instead of seeking clean energy solutions,the Bureau of Land Management is just rubberstamping whatever the coalcompanies put in front of them.”

With the help of Earthjustice, a public interestenvironmental law firm, the groups filed an appeal and petition for stay targeting the failure of the Bureau of LandManagement to take into account the air quality and climate change impacts ofwasteful mining operations at the Elk Creek mine east of Paonia. In January, the Agency authorized the sale of3.9 million tons of coal as part of the Elk Creek East coal lease. After the lease is sold, Oxbow Mining, LLC—amultinational coal company—intends to mine the coal within 18 months. The appeal and petition for stay seeks toprevent the sale of the coal.

The decision promises a one-two punch to the Earth’s climatebecause of wasteful greenhouse gas emissions, which are fueling global climatechange.

First, the coal from the Elk Creek East lease will beshipped out of Colorado and burned in dozens of power plants throughout theU.S., leading to the release of more than 10 million tons of heat-trappingcarbon dioxide—as much as is released by more than 1.7 million passengervehicles annually (see Coal-fired power plants fueled by Elk Creek Mine data here).

And second, the mining will vent 5.1 million cubic feet ofmethane daily into the air. Methane is apotent greenhouse with more than 20 times the heat-trapping potential of carbondioxide. The Bureau of Land Managementestimates that methane venting alone will release the equivalent of one milliontons of carbon dioxide annually—1% of all greenhouse gas emissions released inColorado.

Methane however, is not only a potent greenhouse gas, it’salso a valuable product. Otherwise knownas natural gas, methane is worth around $4,000 per million cubic feet. Mining the Elk Creek East coal lease willtherefore waste $7.4 million annually.

Although methane must be removed from mines for safetyreasons, many mining companies today actually take steps to capture and usemethane to generate electricity, or, as a last resort, flare the gas. The Bureau of Land Management refused to doanything to limit methane waste and described climate

“This decision is a spit in the eye,” said Nichols. “It endangers our climate, it deliberatelywastes a valuable public resource. Thisisn’t just irresponsible, it’s reprehensible.”

The groups’ appeal also challenges the failure of the Bureauof Land Management to protect public health and the environment from the airquality impacts of expanded mining. According to a 2010 compliance advisory issued by the Colorado AirPollution Control Division, between 2008 and 2009 the company violated its airpollution permit 14 times, releasing illegal amounts of particulate matter (see the Compliance Advisory here).

Expansion of the Elk Creek coal mine also threatens toincrease levels of smog and haze in the region, yet the Bureau of LandManagement proposed nothing to address these impacts.

“The agency has failed to recognize and address the damage this coalmine extension would have on our local air quality and on climate disruption,”said Roger Singer, Sierra Club regional representative in Colorado. “This mineproposal would be a huge step backwards from the gains Coloradans made recentlytowards a clean energy future that moves us away from dirty coal, such as theClean Air Clean Jobs plan.”

The groups’ appeal was filed with the U.S. Interior Board ofLand Appeals in Washington, D.C. and requests that the Board grant a stay. Under federal regulations, the Board has 45day to rule on the groups’ request for a stay.

 

Other Contact
“This is a dirty energy disgrace,” said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians. “Instead of seeking clean energy solutions, the Bureau of Land Management is just rubberstamping whatever the coal companies put in front of them.”