DENVER (CN) - A pristine alpine landscape in western Colorado will become an industrial wasteland if a federally approved plan to expand coal mining is allowed, environmentalists claim in court.
WildEarth Guardians and the High Country Citizens' Alliance sued the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and three top officials in Federal Court, challenging approval of the expansion of an underground coal mine into 1,700 acres of the Sunset Roadless Area.
Bear, mountain lions and goshawks live in the Sunset Roadless Area and hunters and hikers use it, according to the environmentalists' complaint.
WildEarth Guardians claims that expansion of the West Elk Mine "will clear cut forest, destroy and fragment habitat, displace wildlife, alter hydrology, and transform a natural forest into a developed area."
"The scars of construction will persist for decades, long after the mine has removed its coal and moved on," the complaint states.
"The Sunset Roadless Area is a 5,800 acre area of undeveloped aspen and spruce forests, beaver ponds and streams that hugs the west flank of 12,700-foot Mount Gunnison and the West Elk Wilderness in western Colorado," according to the complaint. "These roadless lands, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, are home to elk, black bear, and goshawk, and are enjoyed by hunters and hikers. Wildflowers abound in summer, and the area turns gold with the aspen leaves in the fall. Visitors can find stunning vistas of Mount Lamborn and the Raggeds, and smaller-scale wonders, like bear claw-marks high up in aspen, and chorus frogs in clear pools.
"In the last year, however, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management made three interrelated decisions that will dramatically damage the Sunset Roadless Area within a matter of days. First, BLM and the Forest Service took action that culminated in March 2013 in the modification of two coal leases for the nearby underground West Elk Mine, owned by corporate giant Arch Coal. These 'Lease Modifications' allow the mine to expand into 1,700 acres of the Sunset Roadless Area. The Forest Service predicted mining coal within the lease modifications will result in the bulldozing of 6.5 miles of new road and the flattening of forest and hillsides to build 48 wells pads -16 well pads per square mile - in the roadless area. This construction will allow the mine to vent methane, a combustible gas.
"The second decision, by the Forest Service alone, modified the national Roadless Rule, which generally prohibits road construction in Forest Service-inventoried roadless areas such as the Sunset Roadless Area. On July 3, 2012, the Forest Service issued a final rule for Colorado Roadless Areas, superseding the national rule in this state. The Colorado Roadless Rule contains a loophole allowing road construction for coal mining within 19,100 acres of roadless forest in the North Fork Valley, including the Sunset Roadless Area. Absent adoption of the Colorado Roadless Rule, the Forest Service could not have adopted a decision authorizing road construction for the West Elk Mine in the Sunset Roadless Area.