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~-~.............,.....".-=-- . BLM PROPERTY TRADE Removal of Snag in Shale By DICK PROl'TY Df-n\'er Po~t Staff Wriler The U. S. Department of lnterior has ~n - sent a r!'COmmendation that It remove a major stumbling block In the 51- mullaneous development of oil shale, alu- minum and sodium ores in Colorado's Piceance Basin. The stumbling block Is the past reluc- tance of Interior to trade 1.770 acres of Bureau of Land ~1anllgemenl (8LM) prope:rty on the north edge CJf the basin lor . land of comparable value owned by Superior Oil Co., Houston, Tex. II the recommendation 01 Dale Andrus, BLM llate dirK-tor in Colorado, and George HCJm, U. S. Geological Survey conservation director for oil shale, i.! epprovM, mineral development In north- west Colorado would accelerate apprecia- bly. A dos~er on the issue was forwarded to Washington, D. C., from Denver last week'for consideration by Interior of. licials.- Superior's development 13 signiflcantly different PCOnomically, technically and en- vironmentally !rom those of other oii-- shale developers, Ben E. Weichman, Superior oil..shale supervisor, described the operation "as pretty clean all around, I don't know why the government won't push in this direc- tion," The Superior process includes an un- derground mine, processing of ort's un- derground. a closed retorting system to extract oil, sodium and aluminum co~po. nents. ., A minimal amount of water Is needed and that would be taken from un- derground !OurceJ. Spent shale-the mate- rial left when the mineral! are extracted, wl'tl1d be disposed of underground in the mined.out areas. Air pollution, which jeopardizes pre- viously proposed oil-shale developments unless clean-air standards are weakened, wouldn't be a problem, Weichman said. If Interior approves the land exchange, which requires 8 change in Interior's sodi- urn mineral withdrawal policy and an en- vironmental and fiscal review, Superior ",ill build a module plant handling 16.000 tons of ore dailv, Weichman said. TPSting of sUperior's processes at a now.operatin~ pilot plant should be c0m- plete by mid-19i5, he said. Weichman said the economic advan- tages to the Superior approach include getting three major marketable comrnodi. ties from the shale, and avoiding formida- ble reclamation problems associated with surface shale mining, disposal of spent shale, and construction of multi-million- dollar water developments, "We're less sensitive to escalating costs," he said, refusing to reveal how many millions of dollars the venture will =t. Andrus said about un acres of Superl- CJ( land will be examined in detaU for its value. Superior's land is poorE'r than that the company desires from BUI.' "We'll use a cash-now analysis and make sure we're not giving anything 1)fn~tr ?Dst 1~/1.7/7" Process Urged ~way." Andrus saId, An environmental- 1lJ1pact statement taking at least nine months 10 process abo will be necessary 1f ~e.land exchange is approved. Vtelchman said it would lake three :..ears to construct the module plant. The ~ccess o~ .I~ operation will determine if bigger facilitIes will be huilt ~o large-scale comme~ial oil-shale plant. has yet been completed, and Superi- or. ~Ike o~er oil-shale de\'elopers. would be plOneenng. The 90diwn ore--nahcolil.e--<an be used to clean sulphur oxides from smoke of coal-bwning power plants. Weichman said u:*, of nahcolite will enable buming of high-sulphur coal, thus stimulating pro- duction of Eastern coals where production has fallen because they are high in sulphur content and don't meet clean-air !tanda~ds. A Superior .scrubber using nahcolite for air pollution control Is nearly perfected. he said. The aluminum ore, called dawsoni~ Continued on po;. 33, ' 0052