Coal Hollow Mine

Coal Hollow Mine is a proposed coal mine in Kane County, Utah, approximately three miles south of the town of Alton. Alton Coal Development, LLC proposes to surface mine about 2,000,000 tons of fee coal annually for approximately three years. The permit was approved by the State of Utah on November 11, 2009.

Proposal
The mine would operate 6 days per week, 24 hours per day. Coal would be transported from the loadout via 43-ton coal trucks. Trucks would travel from Alton to Highway 89, north to US 20, east to I-15, south on I-15 to Cedar City and from Cedar City west 10 miles to a proposed rail loadout. Approximately 190 truck trips per day, 5 days per week would be required to handle the 2,000,000 tons of annual coal production.

Approval
In November 2009 the State of Utah, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, under Director John Baza, released an application approval with conditions for Alton Coal Development to mine 2,000,000 tons of coal per year for approximately three years from the Coal Hollow Mine. The state approval is separate from any applications to mine on public lands nearby, which is going through a separate federal approval process.

The Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining says Alton Coal will get an operating permit as soon as it posts a $6 million reclamation bond, and that the Coal Hollow Mine will exhaust the private reserves in three to five years, when the company hopes to mine adjacent federal lands.

In October 2010, a Garfield County official and the city manager in Panguitch said they're among supporters of the coal mine. Garfield County Commissioner Maloy Dodds told an audience at a public hearing that he expects the Alton Coal project will "create less dust than a farmer plowing a field." Panguitch City Manager Allen Henrie says the mine would bring needed jobs to the area. Plans call for 30 pits to be dug, with each exposed pit covered and re-seeded as a new one is opened.

Community Opposition
Residents of southern Utah have expressed opposition to the project due to the constant traffic (up to 153 round trips a day) and the accompanying congestion and pollution, posing a risk to local businesses and public health. In addition residents are concerned about the environmental and health effects of strip mining, including water pollution from chemically treating coal, deforestation, and risks from coal waste and coal slurry dams.

The state Division of Air Quality is taking comments through Oct. 14, 2010, before issuing a decision later this year.

Lax air quality regulations
According to an op-ed in The Salt Lake Tribune, during a public hearing held in Panguitch on Oct. 6, 2010, the Utah Division of Air Quality (DAQ) admitted it would not install air-monitoring stations at the mining site to check air quality and visibility, due to lack of funds. However, Alton Coal “volunteered” to put in two air-monitoring stations. When DAQ was asked who would be checking these stations and reporting the findings to DAQ, it admitted the coal company would be doing the monitoring. The op-ed also said particulate matter (PM10) emissions from this mine will be 100 tons a year, and the Utah Division of Air Quality is not addressing PM 2.5, a more toxic air pollutant because of its small size. Pollution and fine coal dust (PM 2.5) will be emitted from the coal trucks, but no air-quality monitoring will be done along the transportation route. According to the author, Alton Coal Development handed Gov. Gary Herbert a $10,000 campaign check shortly before a permit for this mine was authorized.

BLM considers expanding Coal Hallow Mine
In November of 2011 it was announced that Bureau of Land Management reported it was considering a proposal to greatly expand the Coal Hallow Mine operation to more than 3,500 acres from a 635 acre mine. The agency released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement laying out the proposal, which quickly drew reaction from environmental and conservation groups that formed an online petition opposing the project.

Mine Data

 * Owner: Alton Coal Development
 * Parent company: Alton Coal Development
 * Location: Alton, Utah
 * GPS coordinates: 37.415982,-112.477512
 * Production: 2,000,000 tons
 * Type of coal: Fee coal
 * Mine type: Surface
 * Equipment: Strip Mining
 * Number of employees: 160 (proposed)

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