Tag: coal mining

WASHINGTON – The Colorado native poised to become the next secretary of the U.S. Interior Department could bring more energy development to the state’s...

The swooping concrete arch rising out of the barren lands between Delta and Hotchkiss is a jaw-dropping upgrade on a mostly two-lane rural highway...

The clock is ticking down on a court-ordered environmental assessment that could shut down the Colowyo coal mine outside Craig, Colorado. On Thursday, Senator...

Talking coal is personal for many Colorado lawmakers. As the resource comes under attack for its connection to climate change, some Senators – mostly...

The preferred plan to manage 4.2 million acres of roadless forests in Colorado will allow for more flexibility than the national rule. That additional flexibility will allow local communities to protect themselves from wildfires, ski areas to expand and coal mining companies to construct venting for methane in the North Fork Valley.

The U.S. Forest Service overturned a decision Monday to approve the expansion of a coal mine in western Colorado that biologists feared would destroy wildlife habitat.

The Colorado Mining Association and the state of Wyoming on Monday petitioned the full 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear “en banc” an October decision upholding the Clinton administration’s 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

The United States Forest Service (USFS) Tuesday gave the green light to a 1,700-acre expansion of the West Elk coal mine 10 miles east of Paonia on Colorado’s Western Slope. West Elk owner Arch Coal, based in St. Louis, Mo., praised the decision for its job-saving potential. Environmental groups blasted the USFS ruling for its possible industrialization of the pristine Sunset Trail roadless area adjacent to the West Elk Wilderness Area.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hasn’t exactly given the controversial Colorado Roadless Rule a failing grade, but the federal agency this week did issue an “I” for incomplete.

New revelations this week that Massey Energy kept two sets of books at its Big Branch Mine, failing to report major safety hazards to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), have put the media spotlight back on coal mine safety around the country. Colorado coal mines have racked up millions in health and safety violation fines over the last decade, according to the MSHA.