Laserfiche WebLink
5 <br />Table 5-1 <br />DEIS Comments and Responses <br />Commenter Comment Comment/Response <br /> <br /> warming. <br />US EPA 1 EPA understands and certainly supports the need to vent methane from the <br /> mine to address important mine safety concerns. We recommend, however, <br /> that the final EIS identify the magnitude of the etissions and discuss <br /> alternatives to allowing the methane resource to be vented directly to the <br /> atmosphere. Specifically, we recommend that the final EIS describe the range <br /> of alternative technologies available for capturing the methane and the <br /> potential economic and environmental benefits associated with capturing and <br /> utilizing a portion of the methane emissions. <br /> REPOSNSE: The FEIS includes this information in Chapter 3, Air Quality <br /> and in Chapter 2, Alternatives Considered but Eliminated from Detailed <br /> Study. <br />US EPA 2 The draft EIS does not present information on the amount of methane that is <br /> expected to be released from the proposed action, This is of particular concern <br /> because, based on information reported to EPA by the MCC, the West Elk <br /> Mine releases large quantities of methane to the atmosphere For example <br /> MCC reported to EPA that in 2005, the West Elk Mine vented approximately <br /> 8.2 billion cubic feet of methane. Approximately one-half of the methane <br /> from the West Elk Mine was drained from borehole drainage wells and the <br /> other half released in diluted concentrations hi mine ventilation. We <br /> recommend that the final EIS for this project include this. information.' <br /> REPONSE: The FEIS includes this information in Chapter 3, Air Quality. <br /> MCC, however, indicated that the 8.2 billion cubic feet EPA identified was <br /> not reported to EPA. MCC believes that this estimated value came from <br /> preliminary estimates while working with EPA's CMOP program and not <br /> from any physical reporting. MCC reports its methane production (including <br /> that specifically emitting from MDWs) on a quarterly basis to the BLM under <br /> a confidentiality agreement. This official number from the B Seam is what the <br /> Forest Service and BLM have used to estimate methane releases from the E <br /> Seam. <br />US EPA 3 As indicated on EPA's website, methane is a greenhouse gas that remains in <br /> the atmosphere for approximately 9-15 years and is over 20 times more <br /> effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (C0~) over a <br /> 100-year period. Methane's relatively short atmospheric lifetime, coupled <br /> with its potency as a greenhouse gas, makes it a candidate for mitigating <br /> global warming over the near-term (i.e., next 25 years or so); Methane is <br /> emitted from a variety of natural and human influenced sources. In the U.S. <br /> underground coal mines are the largest source of coal mine methane (CMM) <br /> emissions accounting for about 75 percent of all CMM emissions. Air emitted <br /> from mine ventilation shafts is the largest source of underground emissions. <br /> For more information, please see EPA's methane web site ... <br /> EPA supports energy conservation as an important pollution prevention <br /> measure, and notes that the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ's) <br /> memorandum on energy conservation encourages federal agencies to <br /> inco orate ollution revention rind les, techni ues, and mechanisms into <br />• <br />• <br />~~ <br />LJ <br />~~ <br />194 Deer Creek Ventilation Shaft and E Seam Methane Drainage Wells FEIS <br />