Another coal mine near Craig is set to get a new environmental review after environmentalists challenged its permit.
A proposed deal between the Trapper Mine, environmentalists and regulators filed in federal court Thursday calls for a review to be done by the end of April with monthly status updates from the mine. It comes about a week after the Interior Department agreed to allow mining to continue at the nearby Colowyo mine after a court-ordered environmental review found its climate change impacts were minimal.
A judge threatened to yank Colowyo’s permit unless the review was completed by early September. He didn’t order a new review for Trapper because lawyers originally said most of the coal at issue had already been mined. Later, they said there was still more left because of permit changes.
