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De;camher 1. 20G3 Page 2-1 <br />Chapter 2 -Alternatives <br />2.1 Proposed Action <br />The proposed action associated with this EA is to lease federal coal reserves in the West Flatiron LBA <br />tract under NFS, BLM and private lands in Gunnison County, Colorado for underground longwall coal <br />mining. This LBA tract encompasses approximately 688 acres with an estimated 2.3 million tons of <br />recoverable coal. The lease would encompass all coal seams in the tract. <br />Ark Land submitted their LBA for about 923 acres of federal coal reserves. The BLM prepared a Tract <br />Delineation Report and modified the tract boundaries, reducing the tract to about 688 acres. The tract <br />was reduced because a parting in the B coal seam renders the coal unmineable in portions of the LBA <br />tract (BLM, 2003). Figure 2-1, West Flatiron LBA Tract (Proposed Action), shows the delineated lease <br />tract boundaries. <br />It is assumed that Ark Land would obtain the West Flatiron LBA tract through the competitive leasing <br />process, and MCC, a company affiliated with Ark Land, would plan to extract coat from this lease tract as <br />part of a logical extension of the company's current underground longwall coal mining activities. Mining of <br />coal reserves from the West Flatiron LBA tract would prevent a bypass of this federal coal reserve. <br />MCC presently operates a longwall system of underground mining at the West Elk Mine, which is <br />permitted with the Colorado DMG for a production rate of 8.2 million tons of coal per year. The West Elk <br />Mine was opened in 1981 and presently produces coal from several existing federal coal leases. <br />The issuance of the West Flatiron LBA tract to Ark Land, and subsequent mining of the reserves in this <br />tract by MCC, would cause no increase in coal production from the West Elk Mine, nor would there be <br />any surface disturbance, such as new roads or new surface facilities, associated with the underground <br />mining of coal from this lease tract by MCC. The only surface disturbance would be that related to <br />subsidence. The existing or previously-approved coal methane wells for the West Elk Mine should be <br />sufficient to allow coal extraction from the lease tract; there are no plans to install new coal methane <br />drainage wells on the surface of the LBA tract. No exploration drilling is proposed. <br />The 2.3 million tons of projected coal reserves in the LBA tract would represent slightly more than three <br />months of permitted production for the West Elk Mine. No new or additional work force would be needed <br />to extract coal from this LBA tract. Similar to the existing longwall mining at the West Elk Mine, the area <br />above mining on the West Flatiron LBA tract would be subject to surface subsidence following coal <br />extraction by the longwall mining system. <br />The proposed action includes the agencies consideration to lease all the coal reserves in the LBA tract. <br />Although mining is currently proposed for one seam only, the proposed action will consider the effects of <br />other seams being mined. <br />2.2 Public Involvement <br />Scoping comments for the project proposal were solicited from appropriate agencies, specific interested <br />parties, and the general public. The Forest Service sent 32 copies of a scoping letter dated August 1, <br />Frwiranrr~entE~l ~ss2ssniant <br />Wsst Fia6ror LE3~ ?rk7o% <br />G'~J l11115Ctt i'.-!7Ut~i}, (;p!prctC;p <br />