WildEarth Guardians

Monday, July 18, 2016
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 coal mining in Colorado threatening local communities, the climate, and clean energy, WildEarth Guardians took aim at illegal federal approvals at three of the state’s active mines.

“The coal industry is only fueling climate change and putting 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 defend the American public and put an end to the coal industry’s crooked business.”

In filings today and last week, Guardians targeted three Colorado mines: the King II coal mine near Durango in La Plata County, the Colowyo coal mine south of Craig in Moffat County, and the Foidel Creek mine west of 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, Guardians challenged the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s approval of a new coal lease in May.  The lease would expand the mine by 310 acres and open the door for Peabody to mine nearly one million tons of publicly owned coal.

At the Colowyo mine, which is owned by Tri-State Generation and Transmission, Guardians filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement over the agency’s proposal to approve a 1,400-acre expansion. The new mining would open the door for Tri-State to mine more than 80 million tons of publicly owned coal.

At the King II mine, which is owned by the Mexican cement company, GCC Energy, Guardians appealed a decision by the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement allowing a twofold increase in coal production.

The challenges come as the Obama Administration has acknowledged a need to fix the way it manages publicly owned coal.  In January of this year, the U.S. Department of the Interior prohibited the new leasing of publicly owned coal and called for a program-wide review of its coal management.

“While the Obama Administration is moving to fix the way it manages our publicly owned coal, the industry is still enjoying egregious breaks,” said Nichols.  “It’s clear that we need to be moving away from coal, not opening the door for new mining.”

Guardians’ challenges come amid growing controversy and concern over new mining in Colorado.

At the King II mine, increased mining has spurred complaints from local residents and sparked concerns over contamination.

At the Colowyo mine, the federal government was chastised last year for illegally shirking environmental review and public scrutiny when approving new mining.

And at the Foidel Creek mine, the bankruptcy of the mine’s owner, Peabody, forced a local school district to seek a $1 million taxpayer bailout to maintain operations.

Further, as Colorado coal is burned, millions of tons of carbon pollution are released, hindering efforts to combat climate change.

WildEarth Guardians’ latest filings aim to help put an end to the coal industry in Colorado and help workers and communities transition to more prosperous and sustainable economies.