DENVER—The Bureau of Land Management is revisiting a decision allowing an expansion of the Elk Creek coal mine near Somerset in western Colorado, but it’s not certain the decision will be overturned.
The Sierra Club and WildEarth Guardians contend the BLM didn’t adequately consider how expanded mining and the combustion of the mined coal would affect air quality.
BLM spokesman Steven Hall said Wednesday the agency is looking at whether it can address the groups’ concerns in its environmental assessment of the expansion and whether its approval for the project would change.
The mine’s operator, Oxbow Mining, says the expansion would extend coal mining at current levels by a year and prevent layoffs among its 350 Elk Creek employees.
WildEarth Guardians has a history of challenging BLM decisions concerning coal.
