Neighbors: No on coal

MAT-SU — Alaska’s biggest coal producer is increasing exploratory work on a project here that could pay in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but neighboring landowners are balking at the price to them.

Usibelli Coal Mine Inc. owns the lease to 8,100 acres east of Buffalo Mine Road between Palmer and Sutton. The seams underneath the area named Wishbone Hill are predicted to hold upwards of 14 million tons of some of the world’s best coal, said project manager Rob Brown.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources issued Usibelli a permit to mine coal from the area in 1992. The permitted operation would not have any discharge, and the process included extensive environmental studies. Mining has not started on the property yet, and future operations are completely determined by the volatile price of coal, Brown said.

But, Usibelli is actively preparing for a full-scale coal mine by surveying for a new access road and drilling exploratory holes this summer, Brown said. The holes are typically drilled around 300 feet deep using a rotary drill rig, similar to drilling a well.

While this sounds harmless enough, local residents are concerned about what comes next.

“Yes, we would like to stop the mine where they are thinking about mining,” Bonnie Zirkle said. “We just can’t see any benefits of doing it there.”

Zirkle and her husband own a bed and breakfast on the west side of Buffalo Mine Road less than a mile from Usibelli’s Wishbone Hill lease. They are two of a number of property owners who are now trying to fight the mine.

When coal is mined, the vegetation is first cleared and salvaged to sell as timber, Brown said. Then the topsoil, gravel and hard rock is removed and set aside for reclamation. The coal is extracted, washed, and in this particular operation, trucked to either Port MacKenzie or trains waiting it take it to Seward. The gravel and rock is replaced, contoured, then covered with topsoil and seeded with native vegetation.

In trying to get to the coal, Brown said miners do occasionally have to blast away the hard rock. He said they will only do this when necessary and will try to time the blasts when people are likely to be away from home.

While Zirkle is worried about the noise, she is more concerned about the physical effects of blasting. Blasting can crack foundations and shift rocks that shut off wells. She said the company told her it will inspect damage to surrounding properties, but she doesn’t have much faith it will follow through.

Other than potential damages to her property, Zirkle is also worried about the impact to not only the local environment, but the environment of the entire Mat-Su Valley.

The proposed operation is too close to Moose Creek, Zirkle said. The area is too steep for effective reclamation of the derelict areas of the mine, and the dust from trucks and blasting will be blown west for miles.

Brown said it is premature to address each specific concern because final details of the operation are still not set. Usibelli does not have an air quality permit, but it has had one in the past. The mining permit issued in 1991 addresses many of the environmental concerns, and the state’s own consultants signed off on the findings before the permit was issued.

It’s true there are more people living closer to the mine now than in 1991, Brown said, but the mining permit has to go up for renewal every five years. It last went through this process in 2006, and he said there was no major opposition at that time. The permit will be renewed again in 2011, well before any serious mining operation starts.

In addition to the public comment periods for both the air quality and mining permits, Usibelli is holding its own information sessions and attending meetings at the local community council. The office in Palmer is open for people to stop by with concerns, Brown said.

He admits there has been some resistance, but he said he also hears from local residents who can’t wait for the mine to start operations. The mine will employ 75 to 125 people directly, as well as the supporting contractual services like trucking, fuel delivery and machinists. These high-paid employees will then spend money in the local economy.

“I can’t tell you how many people have already asked for a job,” Brown said.

If the operation does run trucks to Port MacKenzie, the Mat-Su Borough will charge a warfage fee to each ship loaded with coal, Brown said. That’s money the borough doesn’t have to generate from property taxes.

Zirkle is still not convinced. She said there is too much to lose if the water is polluted and the air dirtied. To drum up opposition, she is hosting a meeting at Moose Wallow Bed and Breakfast at Mile 2.9 of Buffalo Mine Road on Monday at 6 p.m.

“What do we do when we don’t have clean water to drink and clean air to breathe?” she said.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.