The Utah Inland Port Authority has added a coal mine to its development plan in Carbon and Emery counties.
The Fossil Rock Mine, formerly called the Trail Mountain Mine, closed in 2001. But U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration records show Wolverine Fuels LLC, a coal mining company with headquarters in Sandy that owns the mine, reopened Fossil Rock in September.
“What we’re doing at the port is in line with the state’s policy…which is an all-of-the-above energy approach,” said Ben Hart, the port authority’s executive director, at a meeting last week.
The agency did not approve funding for the coal mine during the meeting. But “even though today’s action does not funnel money into any direct mining interest,” Hart said, “there may come a time where it does.”
The port authority’s potential taxpayer-funded project comes as coal mining faces a difficult future — and as Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has said he wants to invest in cleaner energy sources.
In 2019, Wolverine Fuels told a legislative panel that it could recover 58 million tons of coal from the Fossil Rock site.
Even though the coal mined there will fuel the nearby Hunter and Huntington coal-fired power plants — both operated by Rocky Mountain Power, the state’s largest electricity provider — those plants will be close by 2036 and 2042, respectively.
While the company has previously said Fossil Rock could provide between 300 and 400 jobs, High Country News reported that Wolverine is struggling to staff the reopened mine. Some blame that issue on restrictive federal regulations on fossil fuel production, but others point to the danger and health hazards associated with coal mining.
Wolverine did not respond to a request for comment about the mine.
Stanley Holmes is an outreach coordinator for Utah Citizens Advocating Renewable Energy, a volunteer-based advocacy group. He said the port authority’s consideration of the Fossil Rock mine could impact taxpayers and Rocky Mountain Power ratepayers.
“They’re asking for their funding…to do things that aren’t transparent at all,” he said, adding that ratepayers will “be allowed to prop up coal.”
Jenna Draper, the port authority’s associate vice president for regional project area development, said Emery County requested the coal mine be included in the agency’s plans because it “aligns with their local economic development strategy.” The chairman of the Emery County Commission did not respond to a request for comment.
“The opportunities are there for high-wage job creation and other meaningful economic growth, but there is a lack of local bandwidth to seize these opportunities,” Draper said about expanding the plan last week.
“[The port authority] can lend this support and assist in filling the gaps,” she continued, “to ensure that communities can capture the growth they want to see and these companies can fully realize the benefits of locating in these rural areas.”
