Environmentalists are challenging a draft state air pollution permit for the planned expansion of a Colorado coal mine, suggesting that the state agency erred on its calculation of the projected discharges of polluting gas.
"The [Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's] Air Pollution Control Division's (APCD) own modelling shows explosions at the mine will cause air pollution from nitrogen oxides that exceeds the scientifically established national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS)," said Thomas Young, spokesperson for that Sierra Club, in an email, adding that results of the modelling show totals almost four times higher than those standards.
In January, the state agency released a draft air permit for the Collum area expansion at the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc.'s Colowyo mine in Moffat County, Colo., which supplies the Craig (Yampa) power plant that it partly owns.
A federal appeals court cleared the way for the expansion of Colowyo and the Trapper mine, also partly owned by Tri-State, in June 2016. A previous court decision sided with environmental advocacy group WildEarth Guardians, which alleged that the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement failed to comply with national environmental standards by approving the mine expansions.
The Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity are now disputing a critical state-level permit needed for the expansion of the Colowyo mine. The environmental advocacy groups submitted a letter Feb. 28, the last day of a public comment period for the state permit, which said the APCD failed to include nitrogen oxide ambient levels in its analysis.
Garry Kaufman, director of the APCD, said the issue brought up by the Sierra Club is a technical one, and the division is looking into it.
Tri-State spokesperson Lee Boughey said the company is "confident that the state has developed a technically sound, lawful air permit with stringent requirements that ensure public health and the environment are protected."
He said that Tri-State supports the permit as proposed and believes it can meet the strict standards and stay in compliance with air quality standards.
"Development of the Collom area at Colowyo Mine ensures a long-term fuel supply and sustains investment, jobs and tax base in northwest Colorado. Colowyo Mine currently employs 200 employees, contributes $200 million annually to the region's economy and drives $12 million in local, state and federal revenues," Boughey said.
The Colowyo mine reported a roughly 25.2% production increase in 2017 compared to the previous year, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Coal production on the Colorado side of the Uinta Basin has dropped precipitously over the past five years as some utilities have announced plans to close down coal plants. The operations at the Craig plant partly depend on the coal mined at Colowyo and the Trapper mine.
