The Bureau of Land Management Tres Rios Field Office is taking public comments on a preliminary environmental assessment of a proposed coal exploration license application submitted by GCC Energy for expansion of the King Coal Mine southwest of Durango. The comment deadline is Oct. 5.
GCC is applying to drill 23 exploratory holes to investigate the potential extent of federal coal resources adjacent to GCC's existing King II Mine near Hesperus. The potential coal resources underlie predominately private land.
The exploration license application proposes to use a small rig to collect core samplings from depths of up to 600 feet at the 23 drill sites. Existing routes would be used to access drill sites, and no new roads have been proposed for this. After drilling has concluded, all disturbed areas would be re-seeded and all drill holes would be plugged per state standards to protect groundwater.
The exploration license does not grant any rights to mine or acquire any federal coal resources, according to the BLM. To review the preliminary EA for the exploration license, go to: http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Information/nepa/TRFO_NEPA.html.
Written comments on the preliminary EA should be submitted by Oct. 5 via mail to the BLM Tres Rios Field Office, Attn: Helen Mary Johnson, 15 Burnett Court, Durango, CO 81301, via email to blm_co_coalcommenttresrios@blm.gov or via fax at 970-882-6841.
"Before including your address, phone number, email address or other personal identifying information in your comment, be aware that your entire comment - including your personal identifying information - may be made publicly available at any time," BLM staff said. "While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so."
Currently, there are seven producing coal mines in Colorado (two are surface mines, the remaining five are subsurface) totaling 60,000 acres and with an estimated economic output of $1.2 billion. There are 55 coal leases in Colorado, covering 88,677 acres.
