More than 30 years ago, the Helco and Seagull coal mines in central Utah were reclaimed after productive lives dating back to the 1920s. Crews sealed their openings, buried piles of coal waste under several inches of dirt, and reseeded the ground.
Out of sight, out of mind — until flames swept across thousands of forested acres in 2018.
Last June’s Trail Mountain Fire, which charred 18,000 acres of Utah coal country in the Manti-La Sal National Forest, ignited several coal-waste sites northwest of Huntington.
Next month, the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining (DOGM) plans to expose this burning coal to extinguish it as part of a new reclamation plan to address what is described as “an emergency situation” in the agency’s recently released environmental assessment.