Coal Hollow Mine locator map/BLM

Though demand for coal nationally and in Utah is on the decline, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is recommending expansion of an open pit mine near Bryce Canyon National Park and Cedar Breaks and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments that would impact night skies, adversely impact nearby towns, and likely destroy "a large number of significant fossils."

The Coal Hollow Mine developed by Alton Coal Development is about 10 miles west of Bryce Canyon and went into production in 2010.  Just a year later, the company sought permission to expand its operation to more than 3,500 acres. This past week, the BLM issued its Final Environmental Impact Statement on the proposal, and while noting the impacts, recommended approval of the request that could clear the way for a 25-year operation that could theoretically remove 31 million tons of coal.

The plan, if approved after a 30-day review period that ends in mid-August, would lead to a lease sale of the coal reserves. If the BLM finds a willing developer to mine the coal, whether Alton Coal or another concern, it could clog with coal trucks the main routes tourists follow. Under Alton Coal's request for the expansion, coal trucks would run 10 minutes apart 24 hours a day, six days a week from the mine. Their route would take them 30 miles north on U.S. 89 to Panguitch, and then west on State Route 20 to Interstate 15, and then south to a location near Cedar City where the company envisions a railhead to send the coal to the West Coast.

Both 89 and 20 are winding, rolling, two-lane routes that pass through broken forests of pine, juniper and aspen as they connect Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Cedar Breaks National Monument. During summer those roads are full of tourist traffic that includes a good number of ponderous recreational vehicles. In Panguitch, which funnels south-bound traffic to Bryce Canyon, U.S. 89 goes through the middle of town and requires a 90-degree turn for both north-bound and south-bound traffic.

While the traffic study predicted that a mine expansion of this size would increase truck traffic by 17 percent-21 percent per week, it added that, "(P)ossible impacts to cultural resources from this incremental increase in truck traffic could include physical damage to historic buildings from traffic-generated vibrations, as well an alteration of the integrity of setting, feeling, and association of the Panguitch Historic District and the Utah Heritage Highway 89/Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area."

Business owners in Panguitch already have voiced concerns at such an increase in coal truck traffic, the FEIS noted. In the past, Dixie National Forest staff expressed concerns how the mine could impact air and water quality in the forest and impact scenic visitas and wildlife habitat.

U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah welcomed the FEIS, saying, “Alton Coal is an economic engine that provides good paying jobs that benefit the entire region." The FEIS predicted that 100 jobs would be created at the mine, and another 240 to 480 jobs in the region.

"Alton Coal provides family sustaining wage jobs that are needed in our county and has provided some 30 jobs to date with the ability to expand as well as the additional indirect trucking jobs," said Kane County Commissioner Dirk Clayson. This plays a vital role in our economy. Their expansion onto federal lands will also directly benefit Kane County through providing mineral lease royalties to the Community Impact Board that offers Kane County the opportunity to apply for project funding from these sources.”

Conservationists fear, however, that the impacts to the parks and communities will be dire.

“The Trump administration has repeatedly put corporate interests ahead of the American people in issues of public land management, so this is a disappointment but certainly not a surprise," read a statement put out by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, National Parks Conservation Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Sierra Club. "Our organizations remain strongly committed to protecting the climate and the landscape, environment and cultural resources in southern Utah. Some places are simply too special to mine—this is one of them. The doorstep to Bryce Canyon National Park should be preserved for the benefit of all visitors, rather than turned over to the highest corporate bidder.”

David Nimkin, Southwest regional director for NPCA, had yet to dig deeply into the FEIS and all its documents. Nevertheless, he expressed concerns Friday.

“The impact on night skies and other kind of things is not limited to just Bryce. It’s just upwind of Zion, and Cedar Breaks is close by. It’s a regional impact as well for these fairly large impacts," he said. "The long-term implication of this kind of coal development is immutable.”