January 20, 2004 - EarthFax Project Receives National Award

Salt Lake City, Utah – A project designed by EarthFax Engineering, Inc. ("EarthFax") was recently honored with the 2003 Excellence in Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation National Award.  One of only nine national awards, this honor was presented by the U.S. Department of Interior, Office of Surface Mining to Castle Gate Holding Company "for outstanding performance in developing and implementing exemplary mining and reclamation methods that maintained sound environmental conditions."  EarthFax provided environmental permitting, reclamation design, and construction quality control services on this effort, which was completed at several underground coal-mining operations in east-central Utah.

The facilities involved in the reclamation project included multiple buildings, mine portals, storage areas, and coal refuse piles, all of which were remnants of mining that occurred in the area from the 1880s to the late 1990s.  A unique aspect of the project design was a slope reclamation technique that has become known as "deep gouging."  This surface roughening method has been shown to significantly enhance the retention of runoff on reclaimed slopes, thereby minimizing erosion and greatly assisting in revegetation of semi-arid areas.  Deep gouging has since become the standard for reclamation of mine sites in Utah.

Work on this project was performed under the management of Castle Gate employee Johnny Pappas.  For his significant contributions to the success of this effort, the Office of Surface Mining singled him out as the year's Best of the Best, recognizing him as the single individual who did the most to ensure the success of one of the nationally honored projects.

EarthFax is an environmental and civil engineering consulting firm with offices in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The company specializes in characterization and mitigation of environmental concerns at mining and other industrial facilities.