The underground fire burning for weeks in a Utah coal mine could disrupt power generation at two of the state’s biggest power plants.
Utah’s Lila Canyon coal mine, located in Emery County’s section of the Book Cliffs, caught fire Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, and continues burning underground. The BLM has authorized an aggressive drilling program in an effort to extinguish the fire without destroying the mine.The underground fire burning for weeks in a Utah coal mine could disrupt power generation at two of the state’s biggest power plants, according to the.
Utah’s largest utility, RMP is a subsidiary of the multistate power provider PacifiCorp, which has been monitoring the situation at Lila and contacting coal suppliers. “Though these plants do not rely solely on Lila Canyon Mine coal, Lila Canyon is an important volume to these local power generators,” the EA states. “These plants would not be able to readily replace this coal from the domestic market.”
The fire was trigged in a coal pillar through spontaneous combustion, a not uncommon risk for mines in the Book Cliffs of Utah and Colorado., these kinds of fires often result in the end of the mine because either the fire can’t be extinguished or putting out the fire with floodwaters destroys the mining equipment, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Federal regulations require at least three teams respond to emergencies, according to a Utah Labor Commission spokesman. He said they entered the mine to conduct “recovery of mine” operations, but he was not able to specify what exactly that entailed.