Win a trip for 2 to Canada!
The Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining must complete a review of Trapper Mine by April 30, 2016, according to the agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Denver. The mine will limit its digging to "certain areas," though a mine spokesman said no layoffs are planned.
Just last week, the nearby Colowyo Mine was cleared to keep operating. Litigation from the environmental group WildEarth Guardians had threatened to shut it down.. The New Mexico-based group has filed lawsuits against coal mines across the West, charging that the Department of the Interior didn't do comprehensive reviews when it initially approved mining plans.
All sides seem happy with the settlement.
“As long as our miners can keep going to work and providing coal to Craig Station, I think it’s an awesome settlement,” Moffat County Commissioner John Kinkaid told the Craig Daily Press.
"We agree," Jeremy Nichols of WildEarth Guardians said in an email. "It sets an expeditious deadline for Interior to fix its mistakes,"
Judge R. Brooke Jackson, who ordered the new assessment for Colowyo earlier this year, must approve the agreement.
You want to know what is really going on these days, especially in Colorado. We can help you keep up. The Lookout is a free, daily email newsletter with news and happenings from all over Colorado. Sign up here and we will see you in the morning!
It takes a good day’s drive to cover Colorado, but we’ll help you do it in a few minutes. Our newsletters bring you a closer look at the stories that affect you and the music that inspires you.
Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado. Listen now.