Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

Tuesday, June 7, 2011
WildEarth Guardians to Challenge Business as Usual at BLM

Agency Again Rubberstamps Expansion of Wasteful Colorado Coal Mine
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x 1303

Denver—Waste andglobal warming remain the order of the day for the U.S. Bureau of LandManagement (BLM) and WildEarth Guardians has vowed to fight the agency’smisguided efforts to put the coal industry ahead of the climate and theAmerican public.

In a decision issued today,the BLM authorized the Elk Creek East coal lease, giving the go ahead for OxbowMining to expand the Elk Creek coal mine in western Colorado’s Gunnison County. In order to expand, the company hasproposed to vent 5.1-7.4 million cubic feet of methane – otherwise known asnatural gas – into the air daily for 12 months. A potent greenhouse gas, the amount of vented methane wouldequal more than one million tons of carbon dioxide and the value would be morethan $10 million.

“This is a sucker punch to the climate and sound managementof public resources,” said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Directorfor WildEarth Guardians. “Insteadof seeking real solutions, the Bureau of Land Management rubberstamped what thecoal company wanted, even through it meant wasting public resources and eventhough it meant unnecessarily putting the climate at risk.”

The Elk Creek East decision is the second issued by the BLMthis year. The first decision,issued last February, was voluntarily withdrawn by the BLM only after Earthjustice,on behalf of WildEarth Guardians and the Sierra Club, filed an appeal filed.

The latest decision does not differ at all from the BLM’sprevious decision and still promises a one-two punch to the climate.

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.

And second, the mining will vent more than 5.1 million cubicfeet of methane daily into the air. Methane is a potent greenhouse with more than 20 times the heat-trappingpotential of carbon dioxide. The BLMestimates 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’s avaluable product. Methane is wortharound $4,000 per million cubic feet, meaning mining the Elk Creek East coallease will waste $7.4 million annually. In this case, given that the methane is federally owned, that waste willcome at the expense of American public.

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 BLM refused to do anything to limitmethane waste.

“Call us crazy, but we just don’t agree that the BLM’s jobis to stick it to the American public while coal companies get rich,” saidNichols. “The agency’s eitherincompetent or just doesnt’ care. Either way, it’s disgraceful and we’ll be doing everything we can toinject some integrity into the BLM’s management of our public resources.”