Northwestern Colorado Mine Gets Access To More Federal Coal
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - The federal government has agreed to lease Peabody Energy Corp. another 340,000 tons of publicly owned coal at a northwestern Colorado mine.
The Bureau of Land Management announced the decision Wednesday. The agency says extracting the additional coal won't result in any further surface disturbance at the underground Foidel Creek Mine, which is also known as the Twentymile Mine.
The operation is 20 miles southwest of Steamboat Springs.
The BLM says the mine currently produces about 7 million tons of coal a year from federal, state and private leases. Peabody says about 470 people work there.
St. Louis-based Peabody is the nation's largest coal producer. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April.
A company spokesman didn't immediately return a call.
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