SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — State regulators have ordered the owner a coal mine near Price to address a highly flammable gas leaking into the atmosphere.
The Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining says about 10 holes known as gob vents need to be plugged and the land reclaimed. The division says there’s no point in keeping them open if the company has relinquished the leases or mined out the coal.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that UtahAmerican Energy Inc. is resisting.
The company isn’t required to control methane, but it has contracted with a company to collect and possibly sell the gas.
UtahAmerican says the vents pose a low risk of ignition and it might resume operations at the Centennial Mine one day.
The coal mine hasn’t operated in more than a decade.
