The Interior Department on Tuesday said it intends to complete an environmental review of a plan to expand a coal mine in Wyoming in a matter of weeks as part of President Donald Trump’s push to bolster fossil fuels.
The agency said it plans to prepare and release an environmental impact statement in 28 days for a proposed change to Black Butte Coal Co.’s mining, which would allow the company to mine an additional 9 million tons of coal on federal land in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. Coal from the mine is slated to feed the Jim Bridger power plant, the state’s largest coal-fired power plant that has been shifting to natural gas.
“This mine expansion is about more than coal — it’s about powering our grid, protecting our families, and putting American workers first,” Adam Suess, Interior’s assistant secretary for land and minerals management, said in a statement.
Interior said the Black Butte mine has been in operation since 1977 and that the plan, if approved, would allow its owners to mine more than 9 million tons of federal coal and disturb about 450 acres. The mine is projected to continue through at least 2039, according to the agency.
