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Written by Don Gilman
Alton Coal Development, a mining company with a poor environmental track record, is seeking an expansion of its strip mining operation near the town of Alton in Kane County, while also seeking an extension on the terms of its lease. If approved, the new terms would allow Alton Coal Development to further mine another 297 acres on nearby private property and increase its extractive output to close to one million tons. The Utah Division of the BLM will hold a series of open houses around the state to address concerns about the mine, starting on Tuesday, July 14, in Cedar City.
In 2011, the BLM released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, a document required by law to address actions that affect the quality of the human environment. During the comment period, the BLM received 177,000 comments expressing concern over a wide range of environmental issues such as sensitive species preservation, air quality, wetland destruction, and the impact on nearby national parks such as Bryce Canyon and Zion, in addition to the effect on night sky clarity. Due to the sheer volume of comments, along with input from the National Park Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the BLM decided to draft a Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement to address these concerns. In July of 2012, work on the statement began and is now available for public comment until August 11, 2015.
The Utah division of the BLM will host a series of open houses for the public to view the Environmental Impact Statement and to give feedback on the possible expansion and extension on the mine. The first of these forums will be in Cedar City on Tuesday, July 14, at the Heritage Center. More open houses will follow, with forums in Panguitch on July 15, Salt Lake City on July 16, Kanab on July 21, and a final open house in Alton on July 22. All open houses will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
