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• Reclamation

Reclamation

Basin Electric's record on reclaiming land

Be good to the land, it’ll return the favor. It’s a simple idea that Basin Electric has fiercely defended throughout its 50-year history.

So when a letter appeared in several North Dakota newspapers questioning the commitment of the state’s energy companies and Public Service Commission, former Basin Electric CEO and General Manager Ron Harper [retired Dec. 15, 2011] stood up and spoke out. He defended the cooperative’s and the state’s reclamation practices in a letter. It appeared in the May 8 Grand Forks Herald, May 9 Bismarck Tribune, and May 14 Fargo Forum.

Letter to editor: Landscape speaks volumes for mining excellence

by Ron Harper, CEO and general manager, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bismarck, ND

I read with interest the letter by Wayne Fisher regarding the North Dakota Public Service Commission’s oversight of surface mining. While I cannot personally address the proposed mine at South Heart, I can assure you, the PSC, the state’s utilities and mining companies are indeed proactive in protecting the land and the citizens of this state.

Coal mine reclamation has been required by law since 1970. In Basin Electric’s instance, we were the first utility in the nation to require it of our fuel suppliers starting in the 1960s – long before the law required. In 1967, the members of Basin Electric affirmed this decision in their Ideals and Objectives: “The energy industry must do all that is feasible to minimize the negative impacts on the environment.” We’ve lived this commitment for five decades because it’s the right thing to do.

With the state’s long mining history, there are instances where no entity remains to fund reclamation of mines abandoned many decades ago. The PSC’s Abandoned Mine Lands Division eliminates hazardous conditions at these areas. This is funded by federal fees paid by active mining operations like The Coteau Properties Company’s Freedom Mine that supplies lignite coal to our North Dakota facilities. Since operations began in 1983, Basin Electric has paid, through the cost of coal, more than $34 million into this federal fund for abandoned mine reclamation.

That accounts for more than 9 cents in the cost per ton of producing lignite.

Formerly a lignite coal mine (above), Basin Electric has reclaimed the land (Glenharold Mine/North Dakota).

Additionally, Coteau is required to reclaim all lands it disturbs in the mining process. The expenses required to reclaim these mined lands are also included in the cost of producing lignite at the Freedom Mine. Through 2010, the Freedom Mine has reclaimed 13, 285 acres. Ultimately, these reclamation costs are paid by Basin Electric’s rural electric members through the price they pay for electricity.

When the last ton of lignite has been mined at the Freedom Mine, the reclamation liability will continue for many years. Basin Electric and its members have chosen to establish a fund that will provide for the millions of dollars needed to meet the regulatory requirements for final reclamation and closure of the Freedom Mine.

If words and data are not proof enough, take a drive along North Dakota Highway 200. Start at Beulah and take note of the PSC’s work to fill in collapsing turn-of-the-century underground mines. Immediately east of town, the spoil piles from a mid-century surface mine have been seeded into wildlife-friendly woodlands. Nearby, an old open pit is now a wetland with nesting areas. Travel further east to Stanton and look south: rolling hills and prairie grass stand where Basin Electric’s Glenharold Mine was once active.

North Dakota’s landscape speaks volumes of what the PSC, mining companies and utilities have done for the state: They foster sound environmental stewardship and prosperous economic development.

• Landscape speaks volumes for mining (Bismarck Tribune, Monday, May 9, 2011, letter to editor)
• The land speaks volumes (Fargo InForum, Saturday, May 14, 2011, letter to editor)
• Landscape speaks volumes about mining excellence (Grand Forks Herald, Sunday, May 8, 2011, letter to editor)

Restoring the land

The Coteau Properties Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of North American Coal Company, is responsible for reclamation activities at the Freedom Mine, the source of lignite coal that fuels Basin Electric electric generation and coal gasification facilities in North Dakota.

First utility to require reclamation

Basin Electric was the first utility in the nation to require that strip-mined land be returned to rolling countryside. That requirement was written into Basin Electric's first coal contract long before rules and regulations on mined land reclamation were enacted.

Our concern for the environment has been a guiding principle for many years. In the Statement of Ideals and Objectives adopted in 1967, Basin Electric's members held that "a clean and healthy environment which we all need and enjoy must be maintained and that the energy industry must do all that is feasible to minimize the negative impacts on the environment."

In the mid-1960s, Basin Electric proposed model laws to the North Dakota Legislature to protect the air, water and land. We advocated legislation requiring mined land reclamation and prohibiting dumping fly ash and other industrial wastes into the rivers. Today, Basin Electric continues its tradition of commitment to a clean environment and the communities impacted by energy production.

North Dakota reclamation laws

Surface mining and reclamation operations are governed by laws on both state and Federal levels. The North Dakota Legislative Assembly enacted the state's first reclamation law in 1969 and it became effective Jan. 1, 1970. That first law, which set forth controls for both mining and reclamation activities, was amended in 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1977.

Initially Basin Electric was the only industrial organization to support development and passage of this law.

North Dakota law requires a mining permit, performance bond, reclamation fee and plan, and establishes certain reclamation procedures as minimum requirements.

In 1977, enactment of Federal legislation, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act , necessitated changes in North Dakota's law. The initial state law and its subsequent amendments were repealed and in 1979 legislators authored a new reclamation law.

Evolution of reclamation law