Alton Coal Mine Air Quality Hearing

“The air quality monitoring at Alton Coal Mine will be performed by the coal mine operators. And they are doing it on a voluntary basis, because we cannot require them to do it.” – Jon Black, Environmental Engineer

Public comment on the proposed approval order (PDF) can be submitted in writing or in e-mail until Thursday, October 21 at 6:00 PM. Send comments to Jon Black at jblack@utah.gov. You can also read the DEQ information sheet (web page) and fact sheet (PDF).

Braving a driving rain storm, about 50 citizens of Garfield County gathered at the Panguitch High School Auditorium on Wednesday evening, October 6, to attend the Utah Division of Air Quality Public Hearing about the proposed coal mine in Alton, Utah. Alton, a town of about 100 people, lies 12 miles southwest of Bryce Canyon National Park, 25 miles northeast of Zion National Park, and about 36 miles south of Panguitch on Route 89.

The proposed mine will be the first above-ground surface strip mine in Utah. It will consist of 30 open-pit mines on 244 acres of a 635-acre private parcel. The mine is expected to produce two million tons of coal per year for three years. The coal will be excavated, crushed, and prepared for shipping on-site and then transported north on Route 89 toward Route 70 by a fleet of by 22-wheel trucks. The mine is owned by Alton Development Company, a limited liability partnership formed for the purpose by five businessmen from Florida and Colorado.

The Utah Division of Air Quality determined that the coal mine would be “minor source” of pollutants and prepared a proposed approval order, which was submitted for public review as required by law. “Minor source,” the attendees learned, is a technical category that anticipates lower levels of emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and PM-10 (particulates smaller than 10 micrometers), the types of pollutants that this Division regulates.

Attendees were exposed to a bewildering array of terms and data, including descriptions of a fractured bureaucracy where the Division of Air Quality establishes rules, practices, and limits for emissions of some pollutants, but not for water, or for more noxious chemicals, which are regulated by the Oil, Gas, and Mining Standards Agency. Also, the Division of Air Quality does not enforce the standards they set, which are, instead, enforced by the Compliance Division of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. Trucking, traffic, and road damage estimates are handled by yet another agency, as is mine safety, and all were also beyond the scope of this hearing.

To satisfy federal and state regulations and obtain the Air Quality permit at issue, Alton Coal agreed to install two air quality monitors on site, to expose no more than two open pits at any time, to limit blasting to once per day for a total of 32 explosions in a rolling 12-month period, to limit operations to an average 20.5 hours/day, to use water and chemicals to control dust, and to make sure that the air is no more than 20% opaque on average, among other requirements (for complete list, see Proposed Approval Order). The air monitors will be read and maintained by the operators on a voluntary basis and the data will be sent to the department for review every 3 months.

Supporters and opponents expressed concern that the monitoring would be done by the mine operators and that the only scheduled air quality inspection would occur at some time within the first six months of operation. Any further inspections would be “random,” meaning both without warning and an undetermined number of visits, which could mean every day or never.

The public was given the opportunity to ask questions and comment, and many did. They included Garfield County Commissioner Malloy Dodds, who expressed concerns about random monitoring but said he that supports the mine and has faith in the process, although he thinks there are mine issues “more stressful than air quality.” Panguitch City Manager Allan Henry also expressed support for the mine in the hope that it will bring jobs to the community and said that he trusts the state to “make sure that the mine complies with state and federal law.” Panguitch businessman Arshad Desai called for “transparency” and asked that government-issued mine violations (“pink slips”) be made public so citizens can respond before an accident occurs. He also worried that local officials would use the mine as a replacement for a real economic development plan.

Panguitch resident Robert Cook said the benefits of the mine weren’t worth the risks, and that Utah didn’t know enough about the long-term effects of coal mining on our towns, especially health, traffic, and road damage, and the effect on businesses along the I-89 and I-70 corridors. He called for public officials with a conflict of interest to recuse themselves from decisions about the mine, alluding to the highly publicized $10,000 contribution from the Alton Coal owners to Gov. Gary Herbert, and the approval of their mine development petition just three days later. Panguitch businesswoman Bobbi Bryant voiced concerns that the hearing was advertised only in Kanab, and asked the Division to extend the comment period. She was especially worried that we didn’t know the effect of chemicals sprayed on the coal to control dust.

There were no public officials from Boulder or Escalante in attendance, but residents Mark Austin and Erica Walz both testified. Mark worried about the health effects of mining and said that having the mine owners read the air quality monitors was like “the fox guarding the chicken coop.” He was concerned that the Division did not measure the current air quality as a baseline and that the constant, high-volume truck traffic could harm vegetation in farms and gardens along the route. Among others, Erica noted that the beautiful landscape, clean air, and clear night skies that the mine jeopardizes are highly valued by residents and are crucial to our tourist industry. She asked that the coal development petition and plans that Alton Coal submitted be made public so that citizens could review them, just as the Division did, and provide more informed comments.

The Division managers said that no more documents would be made public without request, but citizens were welcome to request documents in accordance with the Utah Government Records and Management Act (GRAMA). For information and help with GRAMA requests, contact Teri Weiss at the Utah Division of Air Quality at 801-536-4000.