MONTANA, Sep 21 2012 (Neo Natura) - On an average day, 15 trains pass through Billings, about a third of them going to or from Powder River Basin coal mines.

According to Fran Marceau, Montana AFL-CIO District 1, Bigfork, "It’s about double that in Missoula, where the crossing on Madison Avenue is near the rail yard and trains come in very slowly, said Lynda Frost, spokeswoman and assistant to the president of Montana Rail Link."

The company says its goal is to block crossing for no more than 10 minutes at a time.

Nothing stirs debate about increased numbers of trains as much as the prospect of more traffic tie-ups at major crossings like 27th Street in Billings.

“I’ve been knocking on doors on the South Side and talking to people about this very issue,” said Rep. Robyn Driscoll, a Democrat who is campaigning to retain her seat in House District 51. “They don’t want any increase at all. The issue of access is huge, and it’s been going on forever.”

Complaints about rail traffic probably started piling up soon after tracks were laid in 1882. The railroad that built the city and keeps it humming even today also serves as a dividing line.

Proposals for six new export terminals in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia were advanced that would load ships headed for Asia. Montana, with some of the largest coal reserves in the world, wants to be a player in that market. 

One potential contender, Grays Harbor at Hoquiam, Wash., dropped its plans in August.

No U.S. Pacific Coast ports ship coal now. Coal is exported through three Canadian facilities.

If it can get all necessary approvals, Gateway Pacific Terminal could export between 25 million and 54 million metric tons of coal each year, making it the largest coal port on the Pacific coast. (A metric ton equals 1,000 kilograms, or about 2,204 pounds.) Millennium Bulk Terminal could handle 25 million metric tons in its first phase and a total of 44 million tons, if a second phase is completed.

Before anything can happen, there are major hurdles to overcome, including permits from local, state and federal agencies.

Most daunting is gaining authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The process includes an environmental impact statement.

That’s where the current coal train controversy arises. To get coal to the terminals from the Powder River Basin, coal trains will travel more than 1,000 miles through hundred of communities scattered in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington.

Many of them — more the farther west you go — want the Corps of Engineers to extend the EIS to study effects not just at the ports, but the impacts of increasing train traffic all the way back to the mines.

 Congestion is not caused by coal. When the economy improves there will be an increased number of trains carrying lumber, grain and automobiles which could all add to congestion. Railroads should be approached about constructing overpasses and underpasses and other means to eliminate congestion that may be caused by projected traffic increases.

The railroad right-of-way stands between Montana and Minnesota avenues in downtown Billings. Each train clogs vehicle traffic on North 27th, 28th and 29th streets for an average of 4 minutes, 34 seconds.

“Those terminals are going to be key to the Montana coal industry,” said Todd O’Hair, senior manager for government affairs at Cloud Peak. “It’s a small window of opportunity. It’s been 30 years since we’ve had this kind of opportunity to increase coal production.”

Whether Montana can grab a larger piece of the action depends on construction of new terminals. No one expects all six to be built. Just two are in the initial stages of pursuing permits — Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point near Bellingham, Wash., and Millennium Bulk Terminal at Longview, Wash.

Office of Surface mining honors mine land reclamation

MONTANA, Sep 21 2012 (Neo Natura) - The Montana Land Board leased 12 million tons of state-owned coal to a mine near Roundup on Sept. 17th in lieu of concerns about its worker safety record and potential environmental impacts.

The five-member land board voted unanimously to accept a $3.6 million upfront bid for the coal from Signal Peak Energy. The owner of the Bull Mountain Mine offered the sole bid on the 640-acre tract.

State officials estimated the 10-year lease will bring Montana more than $15 million in royalties and other revenues.

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement announced Sept. 20 that it will honor state reclamation programs in Montana this year for outstanding examples of protecting people and the environment while reclaiming abandoned mine lands.

Each year, OSM recognizes states that achieve the most effective results while reclaiming mine lands abandoned before federal oversight of coal mining began in 1977.  Montana received the 2012 Western Regional Award for the Spring Meadow Lake Abandoned Mine Reclamation Project in Helena, Lewis and Clark County counties.

Union representatives unsuccessfully sought provisions in the lease to protect worker safety, pointing to hundreds of citations and violations issued to the 300-employee mine by federal inspectors over the past several years.

The request from Robert Guilfoyle from the United Mine Workers would have allowed the state to cancel the coal lease with Signal Peak for any willful violation of worker safety laws.

Board member and state Securities and Insurance Commissioner Monica Lindeen said she was "very disturbed" by the mine's safety record. But she voted in favor of the lease sale after Signal Peak President John DeMichiei offered reassurances that the mine has been increasing worker safety training.

The Land board is chaired by Gov. Brian Schweitzer and includes Attorney General Steve Bullock and other statewide elected officials.

DeMichiei acknowledged past safety problems, which he attributed in part to worker inexperience, but said that conditions have improved and the rate of violations has fallen.

The Bull Mountain Mine was placed on notice by the U.S. Department of Labor two years ago that it faced potentially severe sanctions after racking up dozens of serious safety violations in its first two years of operation. Agency records show improvement at the mine and it has since been taken off the sanctions watch list, although it continues to be cited for violations.

"There's no mine, surface mine as well as underground, that has a zero violation history," DeMichiei told the land board Monday.

Local officials from Roundup and Musselshell County spoke in favor of the lease sale and said the mine has brought in millions of dollars in tax revenue.

Yet, conservation groups said Signal Peak's bid was too low for what the coal is really worth, and warned that burning the fuel could contribute to climate change.

The state did not appraise the coal before deciding if Signal Peak's bid met the legal requirement of fair market value.

Instead, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation relied on a comparison with another lease sale to Signal Peak by the federal Bureau of Land Management.

Musselshell County rancher and mine neighbor Steve Charter said the BLM has refused to disclose how it came up with its value for the coal. And Charter pointed out that Signal Peak faced no competition in the state or federal lease sales.

"A competitive bid in the middle of an existing mine is a joke," Charter said. "It's setting a very bad precedent for all future coal leases."

DeMichiei said the coal reserves included in the state lease sale will allow Bull Mountain to continue mining through 2023.

The DNRC said the $3.6 million upfront bid equals about 30 cents per ton of recoverable reserves. The lease also would require a royalty payment of 10 percent of the gross value of coal mined.