Borough delays mine road approval

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough Assembly has decided to put off, at least for now, a decision on whether to allow Usibelli Coal Mine to build a road across borough land.

According to a borough press release, the assembly cited an inadequate public process and a desire to hear from the borough’s planning commission in deciding to put off its decision until June 15.

Borough staff said the request to extend the lease for the road came to them a year ago. The mine currently has a lease that doesn’t expire until 2015. The company has said previously it can build the road with its current lease.

Usibelli wants to build the road to avoid having to send traffic down Buffalo Mine Road. The company says that, so far, all it wants to do in the area is drill test holes to get a read on local geology.

But the company does intend, if market forces cooperate, to extract coal from Wishbone Hill, estimating it could pull out 500,000 to 600,000 tons of coal each year. Mining operations would not begin until 2012 at the earliest.

The possible mine has drawn a mix of staunch criticism and ardent support from locals. Some fear environmental impacts and others want to work at the potential mine.

Rob Brown, the company’s Wishbone Hill project manager, said the lease extension was more to accommodate the mining operations than it was to accommodate exploration. The company will move forward with punching the road through.

He said he hopes the borough’s decision favors this plan because otherwise the company would have to look for another access.

If that happens, he said, “We’ve already disturbed a piece of land that didn’t need to be disturbed.”

—Andrew Wellner