Usibelli exploration OK’d

SUTTON — Usibelli Coal Mine has cleared another hurdle as it seeks to mine coal from Wishbone Hill.

On Wednesday, the state Department of Natural Resources renewed the mine’s exploration permit which, in turn, allows the mine to drill holes in the area and get an idea of how much coal of what type is there.

“The trail (to access the area) is almost completely finished and we plan to start drilling our test holes within the next few weeks,” said Usibelli spokeswoman Lorali Carter. “We’re gathering more information on coal quality. … We plan to drill a few holes in the area where we believe we will build the mine facilities like the shop and warehouse, just making sure we’re not going to build anything on top of a nice coal seam.”

The approval from DNR consisted of five pages outlining why Usibelli’s application meets the department’s standards and 12 pages responding to public comments. DNR said it received 134 comments from private individuals and three each from non-governmental agencies, state and local government agencies and tribal councils.

A number of the public’s concerns — about blasting, for example, how close the mine would be to area homes or whether Usibelli should be allowed, as is the plan, to ship the coal to Asia — were called out of bounds. DNR reports that such comments were beyond the “scope of review” for an exploration permit. That doesn’t mean such concerns lack merit, just that the matter under consideration was whether Usibelli should be allowed to drill holes. A lot of issues brought up by those commenting relate more properly to an actual full-blown mining operation.

A couple of concerns did cause DNR to request changes. The department gave people 60 extra days to comment on the permit and also upped the dollar amount of the bond the company has to keep on hand to pay for reclaiming the drill sites.

The drilling, Carter said, should be pretty much invisible to the mine area’s neighbors.

“I don’t think anyone will be able to hear or see anything,” Carter said. “It’s just like an ordinary drill, something that you would see for a water well.”

The permitting process is not over. Next up, Carter said, is a permit from the Department of Environmental Conservation. This one deals with air quality concerns.

“The air permit, that’s currently being reviewed by DEC,” she said. “Maybe within two or three months it might be out for public comment. I’m not really sure what their time frame is.”

And then there’s the big one. Usibelli’s mining permit expires in 2011 and will have to be renewed. That permit stretches to more than 1,000 pages.

The DNR approval also speaks to more local permitting processes that might come into play. For example, DNR replied to concerns about light and noise pollution and increased truck traffic issues by saying the Matanuska-Susitna Borough is charged with regulating those. The DNR permit requires Usibelli to get all the relevant borough permits.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.