The Department of the Interior’s comprehensive review of the federal coal program is hosting a series of public meetings in May and June to solicit public input. There is a meeting schedule in Utah on Thursday, May 19 at 10:00 am till 4:00 pm at the Salt Palace Convention Center located at 100 West Temple in Salt Lake City.
Carbon County Commissioner Jae Potter spoke about the upcoming meeting, “This meeting is scheduled by the Bureau of Land Management or the Department of Interior it’s one of six meetings in the western United States and yes we are glad that there is one in Utah but the problem is they forgot to schedule it here in Carbon County, Emery County or even Sevier County. I think that’s because they don’t want to face our local constituents and those of us that are involved heavily into the coal mining business. We want to be sure that our local community is involved and informed and please come because your presence and your comments will not only be recorded and taken down but our numbers have to be there.” A letter was sent to the BLM from the Carbon County Commission requesting that the public hearing be moved to our area, it’s unfortunate that a reply has yet to be received.
Although a meeting is set in Salt Lake City Potter is adamant about the importance that community members in both Carbon and Emery counties be in attendance. “You know just a few days ago I had a reporter call me in regards to my feelings of what this process of the Moratorium on coal leases would have in our area and then their question was, Do you think you will have the same turn that you did at the regional Haze meeting. I said absolutely, this is vital to our economy and to the nation’s economy and for us to just sit ideally by and not do anything about it, it will have a major impact by people being there, whether you choose to speak or not just the sheer numbers of people that are interested helps us outweigh those special interest groups, that I can guarantee will be there. Anytime a meeting is held in Salt Lake every environmental group that has access to that area will be there and they will be there in force and their people will come with them, but they become very silent when we show up in force too because they no long own the show,” said Potter.
The series of public meetings are a result of a Secretarial Order 3338 issued by Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell based on feedback from last year’s public listening sessions that were held in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Washington DC, there was not one held in the State of Utah. Potter said, “We talk about NEPA also, the National Environmental Protection Act and good land management and NEPA specifies that anything that pertains to a local area and this very much is a local area issue that the planning process or hearing process starts in the area that’s most affected, and that being Carbon, Emery, Sevier Counties. So they have bypassed even their own laws by bring it here and again I think it’s because they do not want to face the people. They know what kind of a feelings and emotions we have as far as our own lively hoods and our community goes.”
Potter was asked as an elected official what were his thoughts and feelings about the upcoming meeting, “It’s very very frustrating because even though we want to have our voice heard, we are not seeing that, particularly in the press these days. I often ask the question, why is it so hard to believe me, as an elected official from a rural county than it is to believe the mechanism that the environmentalists use to put their message our there? What I have to say and what I’m telling you is the truth. There is nothing hidden. There is no hidden agenda here. I just believe that we have a federal over reach in to all of our lives but we also as I’ve talked before we are dealing with sensationalism versus true environmentalism. Anybody that comes to our area they don’t understand the coal mining process, they don’t understand how we handle it and haul it and the real viability it is in providing a stable form of not only electricity but all the other products we have talked about before that coal is actually used in.”
Those who attend the Public meeting in person and who wish to speak will be asked to sign-in upon arrival. Speakers will be called upon on a first-come, first-served basis and will be accommodated to the fullest extent possible given the space and time available.
If individuals are unable to attend the meeting but would like to submit written comments they may do so by either email to BLM_WO_Coal_Program_PEIS_Comments@blm.gov or by mail to Coal Programmatic EIS Scoping, Bureau Land Management, 20 M St. SE Room 2134 LM, Washington DC 20003