May 22, 2002 - EarthFax EcoLinks Project Designated as Best Practice; Additional Grant Awarded

Salt Lake City, Utah - A project recently completed by EarthFax Engineering, Inc. (“EarthFax”) has been designated as a Best Practice by the Eurasian-American Partnership for Environmentally Sustainable Economies (“EcoLinks”).  The project, which involved development of a program to minimize environmental impacts and recover coal from waste rock at an underground coal mine in the Sakhalin Region of Russia, was conducted under the EcoLinks program of the U.S. Agency for International Development.  Best Practice projects are so designated because they “demonstrate environmentally sound and economically efficient solutions to environmental problems in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia.”  Additional information regarding the EarthFax Best Practice project can be found on the EcoLinks web site at www.ecolinks.org/services/grants-bestpractices.cfm.  Scroll down the list of countries to “Russia Far East” and click on the project entitled “Program of Waste Control at Sinegorskaya Mine”.

A further vote of confidence was given to EarthFax with the recent award of an additional grant from the EcoLinks program.  The purpose of this grant is to create a technical and economic assessment for improving surface and groundwater controls at a surface coal mine located approximately 60 miles (100 km) north of Valdivostok in Far East Russia.  Exploitation of coal from this mine has impacted water resources in the area.  As a result, two nearby rivers and a fresh-water lake, protected as an ecological reserve, are threatened.  In addition, dewatering of the mine has reduced groundwater levels in the region, affecting water supplies for nearby communities.  Specific goals of the project include reducing water pollution to surface-water resources in the region, improving the mine drainage system to operate more efficiently, and developing a plan to minimize impacts to nearby community water systems.

EarthFax is an environmental and civil engineering consulting firm located in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The company specializes in the characterization and mitigation of environmental concerns at mining and other industrial facilities.  Additional information regarding EarthFax can be found on their web site at www.earthfax.com.