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trucks or have it delivered to their homes. This is important to <br />the area because very few mines in other areas produce or sell lump <br />and stoker coal. Two narrow gauge tourist trains, one in Colorado <br />• and one in New Mexico, are powered by coal from the King Mine. Both <br />trains are extremely important to the tourist industry of the <br />region. <br />The total employment at the Kinq Coal Mine is currently 41 people. <br />The employment by National Ring Coal is significant because one <br />hundred percent (1001) of the employment in the coal mining sector <br />is attributed to Ring Coal. In addition, it is economically <br />important that National King Coal is one of the largest single <br />employers in LaPlata County. <br />In addition to the people actually employed at the mine, Kinq Coal <br />Haulers employs approximately 3 to 5 people in the Durango area to <br />transport coal. Additional coal transportation is handled by JASCO <br />Trucking out of Albuquerque, New Mexico which transports <br />approximately 2,500 tons of coal per day from the National King Coal <br />mine. Since there are no railroads serving the area, trucking is <br />the only method of transporting coal to markets in New Mexico, <br />Arizona, and Colorado. <br />In 1988, the Kinq Coal Mine paid approximately $1,200,00.00 in <br />salaries to its employees. <br />The King Coal Mine pays substantial amounts in federal, state, and <br />local taxes. In 1988 National King Coal, Inc. paid approximately <br />$66,000.00 in workmen's compensation, $265,000.00 in federal <br />royalties, $20,400.00 in reclamation taxes, $136,000.00 in excise <br />• tax for black lung benefits, $68,000.00 in state severance taxes, <br />and $18,000.00 in county property taxes. <br />Even though this is a relatively small mine, it does contribute <br />substantial revenue to all levels of government. <br />IV. Environmental Consewences <br />Impacts to climate, air quality, water resources, recreation, <br />cultural resources and visual resources were evaluated by BLM and <br />were found to be negligible, and therefore, were not analyzed <br />further . <br />A. Alternative 1 -Lease the Tract- Blue Flame Scenario <br />SOILS <br />Since no surface disturbance is proposed, no soil impacts would <br />result from this action. Subsidence could occur, which could <br />result in some low-volume, localized soil erosion. <br />GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES <br />Evidence of possible subsidence fractures was noted on National <br />King Coal's Federal lease P-058300 in 1980 during the process <br /> <br />12 <br />