Hundreds of residents urge Scofield council to push back on proposed coal mine, organize letters to regulators

Dozens of Scofield residents told the town council on March 10 they oppose a proposed coal mine near the town and urged officials to press regulators and Carbon County for changes or for the project to be stopped.

At the start of a lengthy public-comment period, Scott Holman, 320 Church Street, said many people were at the meeting to speak about the mine and encouraged residents to make their views known. "I think there's a lot of folks that are here to speak about the mine," Holman said.

Mayor (unnamed) told the meeting he had no new information beyond what had been publicly posted and described the application as the third attempt to permit the mine dating back to 2008. "I don't really know any more than what has already been published ... this is the third time," he said, adding that the town's legal authority to stop a county-owned-royalty mining project is limited.

Organizers urged residents to submit written comments to the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining (DOGM) before the public-comment deadline. Jerry Pence, who has helped organize prior opposition, brought prewritten letters and a sign-up sheet and said he would distribute templates…