When Oakridge Energy applied for a permit for the Carbon Junction Mine in 1992, it had hoped to extract what was thought to be a massive coal vein underneath Ewing Mesa, just southeast of Durango.
But the operation never took off, with company officials blaming the Environmental Protection Agency’s stricter regulations on coal ash (waste generated from burning coal), which created uncertainty in the industry, and led Oakridge to deem the mine financially inviable.
Now, more than two decades later, the Wichita Falls, Texas-based company, having completed its required remedial actions, is in the final stages of being released from its bond with the Colorado Division of Mining, Reclamation and Safety. And, the land surrounding Carbon Junction Mine is ready to enter a new era of use.
The Carbon Junction Mine, historically, was just one of a countless number of coal mines that pocked the city of Durango during its early days. Yet what stood the mine apart from the others was its supposed potential of vast reserves.
“It was thought to have a mammoth coal vein,” said local historian Duane Smith. “Some said it (the fault) was 90 feet thick.”
However, even in the late 19th century, outside forces seemed to work against the mine from ever becoming a major operation.
“It seemed to be in the favor of a lot of people,” said Smith, sifting through old newspaper clippings. “But it was a dangerous mine to work in. It released a lot of gases. Then it just disappeared.”
The Carbon Junction Mine enters a sort of black hole in the archives and history of Durango until 1983, when Pueblo Coal Inc. was granted a permit to start working the site, located atop a mesa that overlooks Durango.
But once again, the operation hit a roadblock. From state records, it’s not clear how much coal was extracted during the few years Pueblo Coal had an active permit for the mine.
What is clear, is that in July of 1990, the company became insolvent, its permit revoked and its bond forfeited. Then, further complications arose when Texas American Bank of Fort Worth, Texas, closed, resulting in the state not being able to collect the $931,150 bond to reclaim the site.
Instead, in 1992, Pueblo Coal’s parent company, Oakridge, negotiated an agreement that it would replace the bond if the permit to mine Carbon Junction was reinstated.
The state agreed, and a permit to mine Carbon Junction was formally issued on July 31, 1993. According to The Durango Herald archives from that time, Oakridge was set to supply a Japanese steel company with the mine’s underground deposits of coal.
But Arbie Price, president of Oakridge, said the company was never able to mine Carbon Junction. Because the fault had naturally occurring high-ash content, and lack of railroad access meant the company would have to truck the coal an hour south to Farmington, production didn’t justify the cost of mining.
“It was bad timing,” Price said.
As a result, hopes of production turned into years of planning for the remediation of about 160-acres of disturbed surface land. Since 2006, the company has completed and had four separate bonds released, amounting to $758,993.
This fifth and final remediation project, which mostly included reseeding the land back to agricultural use, is set to be inspected and approved this month.
Jim Stark, senior environmental protection specialist with the Colorado Division of Mining, Reclamation and Safety, said Oakridge’s efforts to reclaim the land “as good or better than pre-mining” is an example of mining remediation done right.
“They’re on target,” Stark said. “They’ve done their reclamation, and really, we’re just waiting for the grass to grow. We’re not expecting any troubles.”
If an inspection checks out, Oakridge will be returned its last $112,000 bond and be released of its long history with Carbon Junction Mine.
A visit to the mine today, a few miles off Highway 3, shows no signs of years of struggle to turn Carbon Junction Mine into an economic driver. It’s a grassy hill, back dropped by the towering San Juan Mountains, that holds a new promising future.
The mine is located within the 1,800-acres purchased by Marc Katz, co-founder of Mercury (now Vantiv), who intends to turn the prized, undeveloped mesa that overlooks town back to the community, ideally for a fairground and outdoor music venue.
Though Katz was unavailable for comment for this story, his assistant, Moira Compton, said Katz knew Oakridge was leasing the land when he purchased it, and since, the two have had a good working relationship.
On the project plan’s website, Katz offered the following statement:
“Ultimately, it’s up to the town of Durango and all the people of La Plata County to decide what should be there ... All in all, these additions to our community could be great for economic development and tourism and also add cultural richness.”
jromeo@durangoherald.com
