East Carbon City officials discuss Lila Canyon mine

By Sun Advocate

UtahAmerican Energy Inc. is currently working to have Lila Canyon mine up and running in Emery County during 2005.
The undergound coal mining operation is expected to employ several Carbon County residents.
Although the Lila Canyon mine was not included on the East Carbon City Council’s agenda for the July 12 meeting, the officials allowed Utah American Energy project manager Jay Marshall to discuss the development and what the company needed from East Carbon City.
The mine will be hiring five workers for the rest of the year, according to the company representative.
At the beginning of 2006, Lila Canyon mine will hire several more workers, employing a total of 20 by year’s end.
By the time the coal production facility is at full working capacity, the mine will employ around 200 Carbon and Emery County residents, indicated the UtahAmerican Energy project manager.
Marshall spoke to the East Carbon City officials about the opening of the mine in Emery County at the July 12 public meeting.
Though Lila Canyon is located in Emery, resources from Carbon County will be used for mine operation.
Carbon County resources will include several hundred thousand to several million gallons of the city’s water annually.
The amount of water required at the coal mine will vary on a monthly basis.
Marshall met with the East Carbon mayor and council last Tuesday to discuss the possibility of purchasing water from the city, possibly Price River water shares.
All East Carbon City Council members were in favor of supplying water to the mine.
“Selling water is going to be a benefit to the city,” said Darlene Kuhns, East Carbon councilmember.
Marshall proposed transporting water for the mine by truck to the Lila Canyon operation.
Around 50,000 gallons of water would need to be trucked from Columbia to the Emery County mining site on a daily basis.
The owners of the Lila Canyon coal production operation will also have to pay for the transportation of the water to the mine from Columbia.
“It’s a lot of water when you’re trucking it,” said Dave Maggio, East Carbon City Council member, about the 50,000 gallons of water a day that would need to be trucked to Emery.
East Carbon City Council members brought up the possibility of moving water being especially difficult due to the condition of the roads that need to be traveled on in Emery County to move water from Columbia.
The possibility of piping water from Range Creek was also brought up by the council. The city owns water shares to Range Creek that are currently going unused due to the difficulty of transporting the water to where it is needed.
This idea was met with high regard by Marshall. The possibility of piping Range Creek water will be researched before any final decisions are made on where the water for the mine will come from.
Along with using water to process coal, the Lila Canyon mine also plans to use a small amount of water for a small treatment site near the mine to make culinary water for a bath house.
The mine, which is located south of Horse Canyon in Emery County, will process 4.5 million tons of coal a year. For every pound of coal, four gallons of water is needed to process it. The mine has the potential of housing 100 million tons of coal, which is about 20 years worth of mining.
Darlene Kuhns made a motion to support the mine’s endeavors. The motion passed unanimously by the council.