2015 Abandoned Mine Reclamation Awards NOMINATION Knight-Ideal Loadout Project Wellington, Carbon County, Utah Award Category: Western Region Submitted by: Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Steve Fluke Utah Division of Oil, Gas & Mining Program Administrator 1594 West North Temple, Suite 1210 801-538-5259 P.O. Box 145801 [email protected]Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-5801 801-538-5340 Project Summary: Construction Start Date: October 15, 2012 Construction Completion Date: December 1, 2014 Construction Cost: $1,860,829.49 Responsible Organizations: See next page. Date Submitted: April 24, 2015
Transcript
2015 Abandoned Mine Reclamation Awards
NOMINATION
Knight-Ideal Loadout Project Wellington, Carbon County, Utah
Award Category: Western Region
Submitted by: Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Steve Fluke Utah Division of Oil, Gas & Mining Program Administrator 1594 West North Temple, Suite 1210 801-538-5259 P.O. Box 145801 [email protected] Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-5801 801-538-5340
Project Summary: Construction Start Date: October 15, 2012 Construction Completion Date: December 1, 2014 Construction Cost: $1,860,829.49 Responsible Organizations: See next page.
Date Submitted:
April 24, 2015
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
Responsible Organizations -- The Project Team --
Project Management Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Steve Fluke, Program Administrator Utah Division of Oil, Gas & Mining Luci Malin, Program Administrator (retired) 1594 West North Temple, Suite 1210 Chris Rohrer, Project Manager Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-5801 801-538-5340 Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Staff: Louis Amodt, Ruby Jo Anderson, Tony Gallegos, Connie Jo Garcia,
Wayne Hedberg, Jessica Montcalm, Jan Morse, Tom Nicolaysen, Bob O’Brien, Lisa Reinhart, Dan Smith, Mark Wright, Susan White
Engineering/Design URS Corporation Amber Withers, Project Manager 756 East Winchester Street, Suite 400 Ari Menitove, PE, Project Engineer Salt Lake City, Utah 84107 801-904-4000 Reclamation Construction Kent Bethers Construction Inc. (earthwork & construction) Kent Bethers, President P.O. Box 555 Heber City, Utah 84032 435-671-1160 Utah Correctional Industries (revegetation) Cody Nowling, Supervisor 14072 South Pony Express Road Draper, Utah 84020 801-576-7700 Landowners Wellington City Joan Powell, Mayor P.O. Box 559 Ben Blackburn, Mayor (2010-2013) Wellington, Utah 84542 Ken Powell, City Manager 435-637-5213 Union Pacific Railroad Kathleen Nesser, Attorney 1400 Douglas Street Omaha, Nebraska 68179 402-544-5000 Funding Partners Wellington City (see above) Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Justin Hart, Regional Aquatics Manager Southeast Regional Office 319 North Carbonville Road, Suite A Price, Utah 84501 435-613-3706
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project Introduction For many Utah residents of the metropolitan Wasatch Front, the small town of Wellington in central Utah is the automobile equivalent of “flyover country.” It’s the place you drive through on weekend getaways to play in the redrock canyon country of Moab or Lake Powell. Maybe you stop for a Diet Coke refill and restroom break at Walker’s, but mostly the mountain bikers, river runners, and Jeepers headed south do not pay Wellington much mind, except to worry about getting a speeding ticket on the four lane highway that doubles as Main Street. It is true that Wellington has a hard time competing with the national parks, slickrock views, and bars of fashionable Moab. The terrain, derived from the drab gray Mancos Shale formation, the fine muck of an ancient seabed, is flat and nondescript except where interrupted by the occasional badland butte. It is difficult to coax vegetation out of the Mancos; even the irrigated fields have a scrappy feel to them. Wellington has its canyons, but they are ten miles away to the north, in the Book Cliffs, a 1500-foot escarpment that arcs forty miles across Carbon County. Some of the storefronts are a little faded; the old Pillow Talk Motel has seen better days. The town may lack charisma. But it would be wrong to write it off as uninteresting or inconsequential. Wellington is a small working class town of 1700 in Carbon County, the heart of Utah coal production for 120 years, since before Utah was a state. Coal mining has been good to Carbon County, but has left Wellington with a mixed legacy. Along with employment and heritage, it also left the town with one substantial mess, an abandoned coal processing and loading facility. This old industrial site was useless, an eyesore littered with coal and garbage. Wellington has aspirations for the site, a green public space with fishing and ballfields, but had trouble making the vision a reality. Then the Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program (UAMRP) transformed the damaged land, creating a usable blank canvas for the city to develop. Someday the site will become a recreational destination in its own right. Some of those out-of-town folks stopping for a soda will stick around to play. Knight-Ideal Loadout Project Twelve miles north of Wellington, in Coal Creek Canyon in the Book Cliffs, the Knight-Ideal coal mine operated for about twenty years after World War II. The mine trucked its coal to a wedge-shaped lot fronting the railroad tracks that was then about half a mile east of Wellington. Here the coal was washed, screened, and loaded onto train cars on a siding. The mine eventually closed, and with it the loadout. The surface plant was removed, but concrete foundations and acres of coal refuse were left behind. Meanwhile, the town grew and by the 1980s a subdivision abutted the loadout property. The abandoned industrial site was a tempting playground for dirt bikers and a dumping ground for others. The UAMRP identified the Knight-Ideal Loadout as a problem in 1983 and included the site in its first OSM grant. However, due to limited funding, the UAMRP only addressed the immediate safety hazards. It flattened some earthen truck ramps used by bikers, demolished concrete abutments with some wicked exposed rebar, and regraded coal stockpiles to eliminate jumps. Utah has operated as a minimum program state for most of its existence and limited
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project funding prevented completing the reclamation for many years. The SMCRA amendments in 2006 made more funding available for coal reclamation. The UAMRP took this opportunity to revisit the Knight-Ideal Loadout site and finish the job they had started earlier. When the UAMRP initiated the second Knight-Ideal Loadout Project in 2009, Wellington City had acquired the property with the intention of putting in a city park, but it was still an undeveloped vacant industrial site. The nineteen acre site was largely covered with coal refuse, from thin veneers to depths of five feet. Although not presently burning, there were patches of ash and reddog indicating past fires. Over the years construction wastes and other debris had been dumped there to complement the original loadout debris. Vegetation was sparse and weedy. ATV and dirt bike tracks crisscrossed the site. Project Execution The scope of the reclamation was fairly simple. Coal refuse was buried in an engineered landfill disposal cell. Some usable coal was segregated and salvaged for its energy value. Stable noncoal debris (primarily concrete from structure foundations) was buried in a second engineered landfill cell. Other debris was taken to the county landfill. A key design feature of the reclamation was construction of a community fishing pond, which was part of the city’s park plan. Construction began in October, 2012, and was completed in December, 2014. The path to successful project completion was not without some bumps along the way. The first and preferred reclamation choice was offsite disposal of the coal refuse. The UAMRP pursued this option for over a year with a nearby active coal mine operation that generously offered the free use of its refuse disposal site. However, the mine fell victim to the slumping coal market and shut down before the offer could be realized. Its disposal site was off the table. The UAMRP regrouped and opted for onsite burial of the coal. Fortunately, there was city land adjacent to the disturbed loadout area available. Burial of the coal required permitting as a landfill by the Utah Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste, an unscheduled delay. Permit in hand, the UAMRP finally put the project to bid and began construction in the fall of 2012. In May 2013, as the project was nearing completion, an excavator uncovered a lens of stained soil with a distinct diesel fuel odor (a buried fuel tank was the culprit). Work stopped while the situation was assessed and a response plan developed. After regulatory review and more permitting, the soil was excavated and hauled to a commercial hazardous waste landfill. So much soil was removed that the pond had to be redesigned to incorporate the excavation; it would have been prohibitive to backfill the excavation with clean fill. The contaminated soil response increased the construction cost by about 50% and added a year to the schedule. Because of the location of the project inside city limits near residences and because of the nature of the reclamation and post-reclamation land use, construction tolerances were critical. Compaction, grading elevations, and construction quantities were closely monitored to comply with the specifications and regulatory requirements. Fugitive dust was monitored with instrumentation and controlled to protect residents.
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project By the numbers, here is a tally of the direct construction accomplishments of the project:
2260 tons of usable coal salvaged 29,600 cubic yards of coal refuse buried 2000 cubic yards of noncoal debris (concrete and asphalt rubble) buried 398 tons of noncoal debris (mostly wood) removed 11,130 tons of contaminated soil removed 58 tons of steel recycled 3 acre community fishing pond constructed 19 acres of land restored to beneficial use
Project Funding Contractual expenditures for the project engineering and reclamation totaled just under $2.4 million (see table below). Knight-Ideal Loadout Project Contractual Costs:
Amount Contractor (Purpose)
$1,788,329.49 Kent Bethers Construction Inc. (site earthwork, disposal)
The majority of the project funding came from the SMCRA AML Fund through OSM. The UAMRP determined in consultation with OSM that the pond was not eligible for SMCRA funding. Since this was a key element of the post-reclamation land use and an important amenity for the community, the UAMRP secured alternate funding. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources contributed funds from its watershed habitat improvement program to improve the local fishery. Wellington City, despite its own tight budget situation, managed to find sufficient funds through the Carbon County Recreation/Transportation Special Service District to cover the balance of the pond construction costs. Although the pond was not a SMCRA expenditure, by bundling its construction with the AML reclamation, the project was able to capture cost savings (mobilization, economies of scale) that stretched the value of the outside contributions. The UAMRP also secured two non-cash contributions. The Union Pacific Railroad, owner of the frontage strip of land along the southern edge of the site, waived its usual processing fee for applicants wanting to work within the company’s right-of-way. The Utah Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste similarly waived its application fee for the landfill permit required to bury the coal refuse and debris on the site. In all, the UAMRP partnered with four other parties to bring nearly $140,000 to the project (see table below). These contributions offset 5.8% of the total project costs.
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project Non-SMCRA Funding and In-kind Contributions
Amount Funding Source
$82,391.31 Wellington City (pond construction)
$40,000.00 Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (pond construction)
$14,000.00 Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (pond design)
$1,055.00 Union Pacific Railroad (waived fee)
$750.00 Utah Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste (waived fee)
$138,196.31 Total
A Memorandum of Understanding among the UAMRP, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and Wellington City sets out the pond-related responsibilities of the participating agencies. Wildlife Resources stocks the pond. Wellington fills the pond, furnishes and landscapes the park, installs lighting and sewer, and provides long term operations and maintenance. Future costs resulting from the project will be borne by Wellington and Wildlife Resources; no further funding commitment from UAMRP is required. Benefits to the Community Wellington City has been an enthusiastic supporter of the project from its inception to completion. Wellington City acquired the loadout property in the 1990s and designated it as a park in its master plan. A significant logistical hurdle in creating the park was cleaning up the site to make it usable. The city made modest efforts to improve the site, but mostly the park was a long term goal. Prospects for creating the park did not improve for the city after the Utah legislature exempted mining equipment and servicing from sales tax in 2008. The unintended consequence of that move to bolster the mining industry was that Wellington, home to a large mining equipment supplier, saw a 21% drop in revenue and was forced to lay off several employees. The mayor took to mowing the cemetery himself. The city was delighted, then, when the AMRP approached them with the reclamation proposal. At the very first meeting, city officials wrote up a wish list on a yellow legal pad. First on the list was a community fishing pond. But nothing could be done, of course, until the site was cleaned up. The disturbance was caused by coal mining and processing. SMCRA provided a funding mechanism and the UAMRP provided the reclamation expertise. Clean-up was possible. The UAMRP has now buried the coal and other wastes, leaving the city a blank canvas to be developed. Wellington is now able to furnish the park as it desires. They have not wasted any time moving in. The city started building a parking lot and installing fencing and signage before the revegetation was started. The city is aiming high with plans for a skate park, playground, walking trail, baseball fields, and picnic facilities. These are affordable, incremental developments that can take place over time, but all require clean land as a prerequisite. In a local newspaper interview last November, Mayor Powell remarked, “We know this project will have to take place in phases and over time as funding becomes available. But I think this park could do a lot for the town of Wellington, not only for our residents but for the business community in our city.”
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project The park also dovetails into Carbon County’s ATV trail system. A spur will tie the park to the system’s main trails. The park will provide trailhead parking, water, and restrooms for ATVers. Besides providing a recreational outlet for local residents, the goal is to make Carbon County a recreational destination itself and siphon off some of the traffic going to Moab. Wellington will no longer be “flyover country.” Local businesses should benefit. Another positive element of the project concerns the rehabilitation of people rather than the land. The UAMRP contracted with Utah Correctional Industries to perform the revegetation. UCI is the occupational training and employment arm of the state prison system that gives inmates job skills and income. UCI aims to reduce recidivism by helping inmates learn skills and a work ethic by doing meaningful work in real world settings. Lower recidivism means inmates are successfully integrating into society after release and that means improved public safety for society at large. The revegetation work at Knight-Ideal gave the inmates much more than a few days of fresh air. The nonhuman community benefits as well. Before reclamation, the site had little value for wildlife. Vegetation was sparse and mostly undesirable alien weeds. The fishing pond was artificially stocked, but the sparkling new expanse of water in the desert quickly attracted a variety of terrestrial wildlife. Killdeer, ducks, snow geese, egrets, and mule deer arrived shortly after the pond was filled before vegetation was even planted. Conclusion Utah, like many of its western neighbors, has relatively minor coal AML problems compared to its noncoal problems or to eastern states. Utah mines tend to be remote and far from populated areas. Even the coal mines, predominantly underground rather than surface, left relatively small footprints of disturbance. Consequently, there are not many opportunities to directly benefit a resident community by reclaiming a large tract of land literally in people’s backyards. The shaft and adit closure projects that comprise so much of the UAMRP effort are beneficial, of course, but they are remote and seldom seen by the public. Their benefits are abstract. They are measured and experienced by what does not happen— the child that doesn’t enter a mine, the ATV fall down a shaft that is prevented. The Knight-Ideal Loadout reclamation, in contrast, has immediate and tangible results. Wellington residents can walk out the door and in a few steps wet their lines and bring home a trout or catfish for dinner. In years to come, their kids will play in Little League games or do stunts at the skate park. Terry Sanslow, a Wellington city councilman whose responsibilities include city recreation and parks, can barely contain his excitement. “The reclamation stuff, it’s just been a godsend,” he said in a televised news story on the project. “I come down every day and see the progress being made, I just jump up and down. It’s great.”
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
2015 Abandoned Mine Reclamation Awards
NOMINATION PHOTOS
Knight-Ideal Loadout Project Wellington, Carbon County, Utah
Award Category: Western Region
September 16, 2014
Submitted by: Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Steve Fluke Utah Division of Oil, Gas & Mining Program Administrator 1594 West North Temple, Suite 1210 801-538-5259 P.O. Box 145801 [email protected] Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-5801 801-538-5340
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
Artist’s rendition of potential park layout following reclamation.
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Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
September 16, 2009. Before reclamation. Looking west from the middle of the site towards the neighboring subdivision. Coal refuse is scattered over most of the site, sometime covered by a layer of fill. Vegetation is sparse and dominated by weedy annuals.
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
September 16, 2009. Looking east along the southern edge of the site at coal refuse banks.
September 16, 2009. Construction waste dumped on the site.
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
September 16, 2009. Concrete ready-mix trucks dumped leftover concrete on the site. Old railroad ties from the siding are visible.
September 16, 2009. Concrete and fill dumped on the site..
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
December 13, 2012. Excavation of coal refuse from the south edge of the site, looking west.
November 19, 2012. Placement of coal refuse in the north landfill disposal cell.
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
April 10, 2013. Capping the coal refuse in the north landfill disposal cell Looking southeast.. Upper right: compacted coal refuse; Center: geotextile cover; Left: clean soil cap.
November 24, 2014. Spreading organic mulch on completed north landfill disposal cell in preparation for revegetation. Looking north.
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
March 20, 2013. Excavation of concrete scales foundation.
March 19, 2013. Breaking large concrete debris into rubble for burial. Wood and steel debris also evident. Steel was recycled and wood was taken to the county landfill.
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
April 25, 2013. Concrete rubble from demolition being placed in landfill disposal cell for burial.
November 13, 2013. The concrete debris in the south landfill disposal cell was covered with geotextile and capped with clean soil.
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
November 14, 2013. Lens of soil stained with hydrocarbon (diesel fuel). The plume of contamination was up to five feet thick and covered about an acre.
November 18, 2013. Underground fuel tank that was the source of the soil contamination. It was still about a quarter full of fuel. The project removed 11,130 tons of soil from the site.
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project Before & After:
September 16, 2009. Looking east at coal refuse on south edge of site.
June 16, 2014
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project Before & After:
September 16, 2009. Looking east at debris in southwest corner of site.
June 16, 2014
Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project Before & After:
September 16, 2009. Looking west across the west end of site.
June 16, 2014
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Reclamation Award Nomination Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Knight-Ideal Loadout Project
November 20, 2014. UCI worker disking in mulch.
April 22, 2014. Spring germination. Utah is in an extended drought cycle and experienced an exceptionally dry winter of 2014-2015 and spring of 2015. Spring germination was too late for good photos in time for the award nomination, but it is happening.
