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'. DEP41tTMENT of tIe INTERIOR news release BUREAU OF RECLAMATION Holloway (303) 234-4695 Gillespie (303) 234-4180 For Release April 26. 1982 INTERIOR AND W. R. GRACE & COMPANY TO STUDY USING COLORADO RIVER BASIN SALTY WATER TO TRANSPORT PLASTIC "BAGGIES" OF COAL The Department of the Interior said today it will help W. R. Grace & Company and other interests determine the possibility of using unwanted salty waters from the Upper Colorado River Basin to transport plastic "baggies" of coal to the West Coas t. Donald Paul Hodel, Under Secretary of the Interior, said a proposal from W. R. Grace to explore the feasibility of an aquatrain -- a saline water pipeline carrying plastic capsules of dry, clean coal -- "appears to offer significant potential." "If a technology using these concepts could be proven economically sound, it would help control the damaging salt content of the Colorado River, benefit the Nation and the 15 million users of the Colorado's water, and put an unwanted product -- saline water -- to good use," Hodel said. Robert N. Broadbent, Commissioner of Reclamation, said the proposal evolved from a Reclamation report last September that suggested alternative uses of the Colorado River Basin's saline waters. "The proposed aquatrain, using saline water as a medium, looks promising," Broadbent said. "It's the type of project -- a cooperative program among Federal, State, and industrial interests -- we look for." In a letter to Ira E. McKeever, J~, President of Grace's Western Mining Division, Hodel said Reclamation will take the lead Interior role in preparing for a feasibility study and will work with the Bureau of Land Management, Interior's legal staffs, and with other Federal, State, and industrial interests. Reclamation and Grace will contact utilities, transportation companie~ and other coal development interests to develop a broader joint venture. "That initial phase will include development of a plan of study and Federal/ non-Federal financial arrangements for feasibility and environmental analyses of the proposal," Hodel said. He said the Department of the Interior now has authority to prepare for feasibility studies and that pending legislation (S. 2202) would enable the ag~ncy to participate in the study. (more)