Public Pressure Puts Experimental Coal Project On Hold
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Wednesday that the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) did not allow enough time for citizens to protest a dangerous, experimental coal project. Citizens will now get a public hearing on a proposal by Linc Energy to exempt an aquifer from Safe Drinking Water Act Protections.
In November, an Australian company, Linc Energy, proposed to bring an experimental coal gasification process to Wyoming in the Wyodak coal seam. The controversial practice involved turning coal to synthetic gas without removing the coal from the ground, essentially by lighting it on fire while it’s still hundreds to thousands of feet underground.
You can read the full article here at Ring of Fire.
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> In the 1970s, the United States experimented with underground coal gasification (UCG).
> The experimentation ultimately cost the government $10 million clean up, a process that
> took 24 years. The underground gasification polluted groundwater with chemicals such
> as benzene and toluene.
> ...
> Linc Energy’s proposed UCG could contaminate the Fort Union Aquifer, a major regional
> source of drinking water.
> ...
> Linc wants the aquifer exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act so that it can proceed
> with plans to ignite the coal seam of the 1,100-foot-deep Wyodak area of the Fort Union
> formation.
I've been appalled by a lot of things over the years - the mindless slaughter of cetaceans,
the wilful destruction of pristine ecosystems, the obscene short-sightedness behind the
introduction of GM crops - but even I find it hard to contemplate the extent to which personal
greed can grow in order to justify this behaviour.
Just wow.
