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r.... ~'? C, , '. 1""'/ c., , c.:., w. R. Grace. Co., a~ 12,000 acre feet per year, c~ be used to transport ~art of the coal fram Axial to a pqint near Rifle, Colorado where it would be , exchanged for water containing 'up to 14 ,000 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids from the Glenwood/Dotsero Springs for transport to the Pacific Ocean. The Bureau of Reclamation has been charged by federal law wi th the responsibility to reduce salt content of the Colorado River, as measured at the Imperial Dam in Arizona, to the 1972 level. This calls for 2.B million tons of salt removal from the drainage system of the Colorado River by the year 2000. The proposed saline water/coal capsule pipeline project would remove an estimated 250,000 tons of salt per year of the required amount. This pipeline would differ dramatically from a coal slurry pipeline. The coal would be crushed, cleaned, and dr ied at the mine. It would then be placed in a plastic capsule ("baggie"). The capsules containing the coal would have a specific gravity equal to the saline water which would transport them to the Pacific. The process of transporting coal in plastic capsules was patented and has been researched by the Alberta ReSearch Institute a few years ago. The capsules that were used to carry the coal after emptying could be recycled at the final destination point and the reclaimed material reused in the fabrication of new capsules. Since the coal is cleaned, crushed, and dried before shipment, a more uniform and higher grade coal could be delivered direct to the power plant than through existing transportation means. Moisture, sulphur, and ash content would be reduced prior to encapsulation and the coal stabilized in the capsule so that spontaneous combustion could not occur during transport and storage. Significant savings could be realized in the design of new power plants versus the use of coal transported in a saline water slurry. In addition, the benefits -2-