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<br />. <br /> <br />..~ <br />:0 <br /> <br />W. R. Grace & Co.. a~12,ooO acre feet per year, coebe used to transport <br />part of the coal from Axial to a point near Rifle, Colorado where it would be <br /> <br />{y". <br />- . <br />....-l <br /> <br />exchanged for water containing !up to 14,000 milligrams per liter of total <br /> <br />C-..' <br /> <br />dissolved solids from the Glenwood/Dotsero Springs for transport to the Pacific <br /> <br />.....-.. <br /> <br />Ocean. <br /> <br />The Bureau of Reclamation has been charged by federal law with the <br /> <br />responsibility to reduce salt content of the Colorado River, as measured at the <br /> <br />Imperial Dam in Arizona, to the 1972 level. This calls for 2.8 million tons of <br /> <br />salt removal from the drainage system of the Colorado River by the year 2000. <br /> <br />The proposed saline water/coal capsule pipeline project would remove an <br /> <br />estimated 250,000 tons of salt per year of the required amount. <br /> <br />This pipeline would differ dramatically from a coal slurry pipeline. <br /> <br />The coal would be crushed, cleaned, and dried at the mine. It would then be <br /> <br />placed in a plastic capsule ("baggie"). The capsules containing the coal would <br /> <br />have a specific gravity equal to the saline water which would transport them to <br /> <br />the Pacific. <br /> <br />The process of transporting coal in plastic capsules was patented and <br /> <br />has been researched by the Alberta Research Institute a few years ago. The <br /> <br />capsules that were used to carry the coal after emptying could be recycled at the <br /> <br />final destination point and the reclaimed material reused in the fabrication of <br /> <br />new capsules. Since the coal is cleaned, crushed, and dried before shipment, a <br /> <br />more uniform and higher grade coal could be delivered direct to the power plant <br /> <br />than through existing transportation means. Moisture, sulphur, and ash content <br /> <br />would be reduced prior to encapsulation and the coal stabilized in the capsule so <br /> <br />that spontaneous combustion could not occur during transport and storage. <br /> <br />Significant savings could be realized in the design of new power plants versus <br /> <br />the use of coal transported in a saline water slurry. In addition, the benefits <br /> <br />-2- <br />