Gunnison County coal mine might get access to roadless area

Secretary Vilsack makes mine one of 14 exemptions

One Gunnison County coal mine caught a break last week when state Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack gave the Elk Creek Mine permission to drill methane vent holes inside an Inventory Roadless Area near Somerset, in the North Fork Valley west of Crested Butte.

Oxbow’s Elk Creek Mine was one of 14 projects across the country, and the only one in the state, that were granted road building exemptions for land that is part of the 2001 Clinton Roadless Rule. The rule is meant to protect relatively undisturbed areas of the national forest.
But with pressure building to allow the methane venting to protect miner safety after an explosion blamed on methane build-up killed 29 miners at a West Virginia coal mine last month, Vilsack said his hands were tied.
“USDA is committed to protecting roadless areas in our National Forests because of the critical importance of these areas to our natural resources, wildlife, and outdoor recreation,” Vilsack said in a press release. “While the decisions announced today allow for mineral exploration in roadless areas, not only does USDA have limited authority to approve or disapprove these activities, but these actions are consistent with the 2001 Roadless Rule.”
Elk Creek is slowly grinding its way toward the permit boundary. To expand and continue operating until 2014 as planned, the company has to vent methane away from the shafts where miners will be working. For mining to go ahead next year, the mine has to drill the vent holes this year, according to Oxbow’s executive vice-president Jim Cooper.
And Cooper questions whether the area is an Inventoried Roadless Area at all, pointing out that there are nearly 15 miles of roads already built just east of the mine’s permit area. “You can’t lay out a plan that is economical that doesn’t interfere with a roadless area,” he says.
Economics also played a part in Governor Bill Ritter’s support of Vilsack’s decision. In a press release, Ritter said, “Coal mining is the critical industry in the Paonia area. The North Fork Valley accounts for 40 percent of Colorado’s annual coal production, more than $450 million in sales and 1,000 high-paying jobs. We are very grateful that Secretary Vilsack listened to our concerns and agreed to let this project move forward.”
The amount of coal being produced by the three operating mines in the North Fork Valley constitutes nearly 18 million tons annually, or nearly half of all coal produced in Colorado, the eighth-largest coal-producing state in the country. The mines also pay millions to the county in severance taxes.
Matt Reed, public lands director for High Country Citizens’ Alliance, understands the need to protect miners, and points out that Vilsack’s directive allows the vents, but requires that miners drill them in a way that minimizes impacts to roadless areas—including the possibility that there may not be any new roads at all, but wonders if the coal is worth the cost.
“HCCA continues to support the 2001 Roadless Rule, and we support a solution done in accordance with the 2001 Rule, which is what Vilsack has directed the Forest Service to consider,” he said. “The lease modifications would likely result in massive amounts of methane pollution. This uncontrolled pollution could contribute significantly to Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions.”
Cooper knows that people aren’t going to be in favor of the expanded mining operation in the North Fork Valley, but sees it as part of the job. The growing concern about greenhouse gases has his company looking for partners who might be able to profit from the methane.
Vessels Coal Gas has approached Oxbow about collecting the methane to generate electricity for sale to the Delta-Montrose Electric Association, even though Cooper says, “If it’s for no other reason other than the PR value of it. It’s probably not economical.”
He says the vents will be nine miles from the nearest pipeline that could be used to transport the gas, which he doesn’t think is commercial quality, to market. Even so, the mine is finding value in the gas and already has a Cummins engine that runs partially on methane. Cooper said Oxbow would like to do more along those lines.
“With everything we have done [to explore the capture of methane], we haven’t had one yet tell us it was economical. Oxbow used to be in the power business so it’s not a strange industry to us,” Cooper said. “Basically that doesn’t matter to enviros and people out of state… Our position is public land is public’s benefit.”