Commissioner updates public on late-stage permit for Kinney Mine near Schofield Town

Commissioner Jensen updated the Carbon County Commission on a coal mine permit now in the final approval stages with the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining for a site called the Kinney Mine just north of Schofield Town.

Jensen said the site has housed mines in the past and that two local individuals, “Bob Mead and Greg Hunt,” have been working for years to move the project forward. “They’ve taken the mine permit that was approved the last go around and resubmitted that for another approval from the Department of Oil Gas and Mining,” Jensen said.

The commissioner said the project team has tried to address concerns raised in previous permit processes, including noise mitigation. Jensen explained that proposed equipment “would have a reduced amount of noise to it and it would be pointed upward rather than horizontally out the portal to help with some noise issues.” He said the applicants met with Schofield Town’s council in February to walk through questions raised by residents.

Jensen said the county has received calls from nearby residents and cabin owners who are opposed to a coal mine close to town, but that the county itself has had little direct role in the state permitting process. "The county has not had really any participation in this process. It's directly with the Department of Oil Gas and Mining," he said. He added that the county did respond to a request for comments and “told them that we are in favor of mining” but that the county’s support was provided without full details of the final site layout.

Jensen described several hurdles that remain before mining could begin, including securing a coal buyer. He noted concerns about export routes and said west-coast ports “don’t allow any coal through the ports any longer along in California, Oregon, and and Washington.” He also said that if the project moved forward, a future county-level conditional-use permit would likely be required and that planning commission review would be part of that local process.

The commission did not take formal action on the Kinney Mine at the meeting; Jensen characterized the overall likelihood of reopening a mine at the site as “still unlikely” but possible pending the remaining approvals and market factors.