Production stops at CONSOL

CONSOL Energy Inc. announced in October that it would idle its Emery Mine and furlough 171 employees there beginning in December. The layoffs will impact about 135 hourly and 36 salaried workers. They were briefed on Oct. 1. CONSOL explained that the mine will be idled because its production costs are higher than regional competitors and market conditions. Dec. 17 was the last day for mining at the mine. The Nielson Construction coal haul trucks will continue to haul until the coal at the mine has been taken to the rail. Then it is expected the coal haul drivers will be sent to another coal haul, but not all of the drivers are expected to keep their jobs.

The layoffs are expected to have a severe impact on the communities of Ferron and Emery who rely on the income from the mine. The local stores are stopping spots for the miners on their way to and from work in Emery. Emery County Progress

Western Energy Alliance to discuss oil and natural gas development with state policymakers

Western Energy Alliance, formerly the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States (IPAMS), will meet with policymakers in Salt Lake City this week, stressing the essential role oil and natural gas development plays in advancing Utah's economic and renewable energy goals.
Western Energy Alliance members will discuss Utah's vast energy resources and how federal policies such as permitting delays, arbitrary impediments to project approvals, failure to issue leases, and lease cancellations are putting at risk thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in government revenue. Western Energy Alliance will present to the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee on Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. in the Senate Building, Room 210. Sun Advocate

Two Utah counties power through Great Recession

A relentless demand for electricity has kept the economies of Emery and Carbon counties humming through the Great Recession.

Not that there haven’t been plenty of personal and commercial brownouts in the past couple of years. At the food banks Jackie Butkovich runs in Price and Castle Dale, the number of families being served was 83 percent higher last month than in September 2008. Some businesses did not survive. But the drain on her limited resources could have been much worse if it were not for the stabilizing force provided by the high-paying jobs involved in generating electricity at PacifiCorp’s three coal-fired power plants — Hunter 1 in Castle Dale, Huntington outside the Emery County town of the same name, and the Carbon plant near Helper.

Hundreds work directly at the plants or on power lines emanating from them. Hundreds more work in the coal mines that supply the fossil fuel that turns the turbines to make the electricity. Scores of truck drivers are employed moving cut coal from mines to PacifiCorp’s plants or to rail lines where it will be hauled to other utilities. Service companies abound that provide the labor and supplies needed to keep mining equipment, big rigs and giant electrical motors and fans running smoothly. Salt Lake Tribune

Nuclear planners train hazmat teams

With a briefing for hazardous materials teams from Carbon, Emery, Grand and Uintah counties last week, the proposed Blue Castle nuclear project took another step on the long road to groundbreaking. The power plant site is about five miles west-northwest of Green River in Emery County. Final approval by all federal, state and local agencies would give the go-ahead for a generating facility that would match or exceed the output of all the coal-fired power plants now operating in that county. Plans call for 2,000 to 3,000 megawatts of capacity at the site. In contrast, the three units at PacifiCorp's Hunter Plant and both units at the Huntington plant are about 400 megawatts each. Blue Castle Holdings, Inc., which is developing the site, has reported that it has already secured water rights for the plant. Sun Advocate

Price buys into wind power

Looking to expand their options for energy, including renewable sources, Price City council members have decided to buy into a possible wind farm project in Idaho. The project, known as the Horse Butte wind farm, is a planned 50 to 100 megawatt wind farm located 15 miles east of Idaho Falls, Idaho. The potential 100 megawatt farm has participants from other cities in Utah as well as other states including California, which are members of the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems. Once Price City would begin receiving power from the project, the city would then have the option of selling the power to businesses, Tatton said. Businesses in the area have already shown interest in buying the power that would come from the wind farm, he said. Sun Advocate

County approves new mine at Scofield

The Carbon County Commission has granted a conditional use permit for a new coal mine whose portal and surface facilities would be on the east side of Scofield Town. The proposed Kinney No. 2 mine would employ about 200 miners and produce between 2 million and 3 million tons per year. Much of this coal belongs to Carbon County, which stands to collect royalties.

Mine owner Carbon Resources, LLC, still has to get several federal and state permits to begin operation. Gregory Hunt, part owner of Carbon Resources, told the commission that the company is only about a month away from completing one major hurdle, its permit application from the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining. Other approvals for highway modification, air and water quality and surface disturbance are either approved or under review.

If all goes according to schedule, construction could begin next spring or summer, Hunt said. Sun Advocate

Report: Abandon Utah's oil shale, tar sands

As Gov. Gary Herbert prepares today to stage the first of four statewide forums on Utah’s energy future, a Rocky Mountain environmental group has some advice: Forget oil shale and tar sands. Western Resource Advocates issued a 38-page report Tuesday on the energy and water inefficiency of either potential fuel source. The title: Fossil Foolishness: Utah’s Pursuit of Tar Sands and Oil Shale. The Boulder, Colo.-based legal and policy group commissioned a Boston University geographer to analyze the energy return on investment for oil shale. He determined that most research indicates that, at best, making fuel from the rock would generate twice the energy content of what it takes to produce. That compares to a 20-to-1 ratio or better for petroleum.

Additionally, the advocates insist, these potential fuel sources are too polluting and water intensive to win a place in Herbert’s vision for a clean-energy economy. They argue they also would require too many public subsidies to meet his test for market solutions. The Western Resource Advocates report cites state and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation estimates that Utah will exhaust its remaining share of Colorado River water by about 2020 — even without giving over any of it to new energy development. Utah’s potential for developing 634,000 barrels of oil a day by mining and then cooking oil shale would require somewhere between 90,000 and 150,000 acre-feet of water. An acre-foot, roughly 326,000 gallons, is about enough to supply two households for a year. While not armed with as much research about Utah’s tar sands, the environmental group believes that potential energy source faces similar efficiency issues. Salt Lake Tribune

Green River Medical center expansion

Green River Medical Center was selected as one of 11 health care centers in Utah to receive stimulus funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The medical center was awarded $303,445 to expand and remodel the current building. The construction contract was awarded to Moab Construction. Construction started June 1 with the removal of the front vestibule and concrete sidewalks to make room for a new conference room. Construction is expected to last into September. Emery County Progress

Researchers expect decline in Carbon coal production

Coal production from Carbon County mines could decline by as much as 95 percent over the next ten years, and even under the most optimistic conditions it is expected to be about half of current output by 2023. That is the forecast of the Utah Geologic Survey, recently analyzed and published by the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research. The study considers that environmental concerns, development of competitive energy resources and technologies, availability of new mining permits and viability of export markets will all affect the future of coal. In the worst case, Carbon's production collapses to just 500,000 tons per year after 2020 from the estimated 10 million tons today. In the best case, with new technology in pollution control making new power plants possible and Pacific Rim export markets expanding, the county's mines will still taper off to 5.5 million tons per year by 2023. Emery County would then be the king of the coalfields with a predicted output of 11 million tons. Sun Advocate

Dugout Canyon Mine resumes production

Arch Coal's Canyon Fuel Company subsidiary announced that its Dugout Canyon Mine in Carbon County, Utah, has resumed coal production with all mining equipment, including the main longwall mining system. Mine crews recently completed permanently sealing a mined-out area where increased levels of carbon monoxide were detected on April 29. The company wishes to thank the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for their technical support and assistance in resolving this situation in a safe and responsible manner. Dugout Canyon mine and its 275 employees produced approximately 200,000 tons of low-sulfur bituminous coal per month in the first quarter of 2010, which equates to about 2 percent of Arch's total production. St. Louis-based Arch Coal is the second largest U.S. coal producer. Through its national network of mines, Arch supplies cleaner-burning, low-sulfur coal to fuel roughly 8 percent of the nation's electricity. The company also ships coal to domestic and international steel manufacturers as well as international power producers. MarketWatch

Emery Town receives water money

Emery Town council held a public hearing for input on the proposed water source improvements for the town. The total project cost is estimated at $6.67 million for construction, permitting, mapping, administrative costs, engineering and related expenses. Mayor Mistie Christiansen went before the Community Impact board and recently obtained a grant/loan package for a total of $1,070,000 for the project. The US Army Corps of Engineers is contributing $5 million toward the project. Other funds procured for the project include: Consol Mining for $125,000; Muddy Creek Irrigation and Energy Sector for $475,000.

The plan is to pipe the canal to the highway or until funds run out. There are many benefits for the project including a 30-40 percent water savings by stopping canal seepage. Currently the Muddy Creek canal company is working on the silting structure which must be in place before the canal piping project can begin. Any funds left over from the silting structure can be transferred to the canal project. Emery County Progress

County, Barrett negotiate with SUWA over Tavaputs access

Long time allies on drilling for gas in the Tavaputs Plateau, Bill Barrett Corporation and Carbon County have been at odds for a couple of months over efforts by the Denver-based company to remove obstacles to its five -year pursuit of federal approval for year-round drilling in the 60-year old West Tavaputs gas field. But at least some of that was settled this past couple of weeks when in three separate negotiating sessions, the three groups (Carbon County, Barrett and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance), along with the state and with the cooperation of the Bureau of Land management, came to a tentative agreement on the issues involved.

The details, while not public as of yet, consisted of asking the BLM and county to allow gates across some designated roads in the area. The county, for its part, has always been against closing any kind of public access, regardless of the reason. They mostly feel that if gates are allowed on any public access, it will set a precedent that could lead to many more closures in the future.

Jobs and payrolls are also going to be important in the ability to drill wells. Overall the project could be worth about $300 million over the next 10 years. Sun Advocate

Carbon County coal headed to China

America West Resources Inc. said it has signed two contracts to sell more than $200 million worth of coal from its Horizon mine north of Price. The Salt Lake City-based company said last week that it signed the agreement to supply coal to an unnamed energy group from China, shipped through an unnamed, northwestern U.S. port where it is leasing storage and terminal space.

On Tuesday, it announced the signing of an eight-month, $7.4 million deal to deliver coal to a West Coast utility, which also was not identified.

"Global demand for our compliant coal has been increasingly robust," said America West Chief Executive Dan Baker. "America West is working diligently toward re-establishing mining operations in two pillar sections at Horizon, with a goal of expanding to three sections by the end of this year and significantly increasing production." Salt Lake Tribune

Senior Center project heads to finish line

Months in the making, construction of the new Price Senior Center is plugging along, and according to project manager Tom McCrary, workers are "making good progress" and quickly "closing things up." Completion of the facility is expected on or around July 15. Sun Advocate

Green River nuclear power proposal sparks big questions

Utah-based Blue Castle's plan to build a 3,000 megawatt nuclear power plant near the Green River in eastern Utah is generating more questions than answers. Presently, none of the plant's $16 billion to $20 billion construction cost is in hand. Rather, Blue Castle plans to secure the Green River water, then obtain a license from the NRC before it begins to raise money to build the plant. Should the Green River plant be built -- a fast-track scenario would put it online in 2020, although historically such projects have taken longer. The Salt Lake Tribune