The news of the massive methane leaks emanating from the abandoned Coal Basin Mine above Redstone for years was shocking to many, but not to all. Anyone familiar with the Mid-Continent Coal and Coke (MCCC) mine knows that it was one of the most gaseous mines in the West.
The horrific gas blast of April 15, 1981 killed 15 miners and put Redstone in the national spotlight. Giant turbine fans sucking gas out of the mine and into the atmosphere ran 24/7 and could be heard down in distant Marble Valley. When MCCC declared bankruptcy, “sealed” the mines, turned off the fans and walked away, the gas did not stop flowing.
Although common knowledge to many “old-timers,” the figures that emerged in 2020 riveted local attention. Methane gas is a heat-trapping gas “84 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20 year period … [and] contributes to more than 25% of current global warming.” Those figures are universal, but when it was announced that Coal Basin gas leaks were equivalent to the entire carbon footprint of Pitkin County and could be mitigated, that captured local attention.
So, where did this sudden focus come from? Enter Dr. Chris Caskey. Caskey is a Paonia-based environmental entrepreneur with a passion for climate change study. (Caskey is also the founder of Delta Brick and Climate Company which turns Paonia Reservoir clay into tiles and pavers).
Caskey has been very involved in the methane capture and electrical generation at the abandoned mines in nearby Somerset, CO. That innovative project was sponsored by Aspen Skiing Company as part of its “Protect Our Winters” and environmental initiative. Within approximately five years, the Ski Company recouped their initial investment through power generation. In his research, Caskey found the estimated figures of the Coal Basin leakage. He dug deeper.
State entities, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Environmental Protection Agency and Pitkin County all recognized high volumes of methane flowing out of abandoned mine portals and fractures in the shale slopes. Again, the estimate was equated to the entire carbon footprint of Pitkin County.
These figures inspired the local Community Office of Resource Efficiency (CORE) to unite with Caskey. The two have been integrated partners almost since the inception of the project. Caskey wants the effort to be “a community driven project,” so the group has held community forums periodically throughout the process.
Pitkin County and the federal government have contributed significantly to the research effort to determine just what the reality of these emission claims are. So did a benevolent neighbor in Coal Basin, the Catena Foundation. Catena has a large investment reclaiming the abandoned base operations area of Mid Continent Coke, commonly known as the wash plant. Catena transformed the industrially devastated area “into a silk purse from a sow’s ear” by cleaning ponds, planting trees and developing a system of bicycle trails which they have opened to the public. The foundation issued a grant to well respected Colorado State University professor Joe von Fischer to study the emissions in the basin. The Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association (CVEPA) had insisted on a second opinion early in the project and was pleased when von Fischer was empowered to research the claims.
The summer of 2023 saw an intensive effort by both entities to locate, evaluate and quantify the methane leaks and assimilate that data. Through aerial drones, fixed-wing aircraft and extensive on-the-ground instrumentation (moved biweekly by horseback and volunteer backpacking) both scientists derived data that essentially corroborated each other.
At the end of the research season, the original prediction of 10,000 metric tons of methane was found to be less than 25% of the actual figure. The guesstimate that equated the amount of methane to the entire carbon footprint of Pitkin County is more likely around one-third of the total footprint.
What is this in layman’s terms? The project could mitigate the emissions of approximately 8,000 passenger car trips in the Roaring Fork Valley annually. Is the destruction of this amount of methane worth the potential damage to Coal Basin itself? What would be the environmental cost to water quality, wildlife habitat, recreational values and general quality of life? (Not to mention deference to past CVEPA volunteers that spent countless (wo)man hours reclaiming the ravaged basin.)
CVEPA sat with Caskey, colleague Mona Newton and CORE’s John Dougherty last week to discuss finer details. Erosion, sound pollution and environmental concerns are the tip of the iceberg as, together, we dug deeper into what gas mitigation would truly encompass. Caskey opined that CVEPA was asking questions which the feds hadn’t even requested. Moving toward a National Environmental Policy Act decision, CVEPA remains engaged and vigilant.
A CVEPA board member, and an engineer, will remain on a technical review committee. Educate yourself on this issue at www.aspencore.org/coal-basin-methane-project
How can we benefit our climate and quality of life and protect the environment of Coal Basin? The answer is neither black nor white, equivocal or Crystal Clear.
To learn more about the Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association or to support our mission, please visit www.cvepa.org