Western Railroad Discussion > Changes at Somerset, Colorado

Oxbow Mining has abandoned their coal mine in Somerset, CO. The company has started the reclamation process which included the implosion of the concrete load-out silo. The newspaper article linked here has a few photos.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/oxbow-shifts-to-permanent-shutdown-of-elk-creek-mi

Bowie Resources has shut down their mine on the North Fork sub so the only mine still operating is the West Elk mine.

Todd Busse

Taken May 24, 2012
My first of several work trips to Paonia.

---

Sad days on the North Fork.  West Elk is likely living on borrowed time, as well.  When natural gas goes way back up in price at some point (and it will) and coal demand goes back up, these mines won't be around to meet it, and the railroad that has served those mines may not be around, either.  Just like suicide is often a permanent solution to a temporary problem, shuttering coal mines because of the current seeming surplus of natural gas is a short-sighted--no, a non-existent--long-term energy strategy.  America sorely needs a balanced energy policy and a much greater emphasis on energy conservation, but we shouldn't be permanently foreclosing the opportunity to have clean coal as part of the mix.  And, yes, North Fork coal is some of the highest energy-content, lowest sulphur content, lowest ash content, and lowest moisture content coal left anywhere in US reserves.

It is a knee jerk reaction.  Just like raising gas prices bosed on what may happen in 6 months.  Poorly thought out guidelines by people who are in it for the money.  Nothing realistic about it at all.  And you and I get to pay for it, now and forever!

 Rob

Coal is still coal, whether low sulphur or low whatever, it's high CO2 and it's unsustainable! And if climate change is driven at least partly by burning fossil fuel then we'll definitely all be paying for it, now and forever!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/16 14:09 by exhaustED.

^Let me tell you about the nonsense that goes on in the "environmentalist" movement.  Let me say first, though, that I am a staunch conservationist who believes that a whole of very fundamental lifestyle changes need to be made by everyone if we are to have much of a future at all.  Unfortunately, no one wants to hear that, but they will follow off a lot of know-little-or-nothing environmentalists who give them "convenient" feel-good answers.  OK, here goes.  If you know much about the geology of the coal seams in the North Fork Valley, you will know that they are "gassy" coal seams.  They are constantly venting methane to the atmosphere (and unburned methane is a worse greenhouse gas than CO2, by the way) from rock fissures  and any other place that the gas can escape to the atmosphere.  As a result, the North Fork mines tend to be "gassy," as well--that is actually a significant safety issue in a coal mine.  Several years ago, one of the mines looked at the feasiblility of drilling what are known as "gob holes" downward from the surface into the coal seams, allowing the methane gas to rise to the surface, where it would be captured and put into a nearby natural gas pipeline.  It seemed like a win-win situation for everyone--it would relieve a lot of the methane buildup and hazards in the mine, the methane would not be just venting to the atmosphere (either naturally or from the coal mine), and it would provide additional natural gas supplies that would not have to come from other drilling somewhere else.  The only problem was the drilling the gob hole vents would involve building a very limited number of roads (none of which would be open to public use and abuse, and many of which would be only temporary) in a very limited acreage of roadless area in the National Forest.  On only that basis, several environmental groups (several based outside of Colorado) filed every obstructionist appeal to stop the whole project.  They succeeded.  Interestingly, a number of the local environmentalists who were the most vocal were strangely silent about the fact that they lived farily close by in rural "ranchette" subdivisions laced with  road networks that were rife with noxious weed problems, with homes, barns, domestic horses, etc. plunked where they would disrupt game migration patterns, viewsheds, etc.  And, of course,. many of their homes are multi-thousand square-foot houses heated with fossil fuels with 12 mpg SUV's parked in the heated garages.

Get one other thing straight:  Burn (oxidize) any carbonaceous fuel and CO2 is the result--coal, methane, petroleum, wood, etc.  If you want to reduce CO2 emissions, the only way is to burn less carbonaceous fuels.  Solar, wind, etc. can do some of that, but what has to change the most is where we live, how much we consume, and how far we have to travel.  All of those things will have to shrink over time (along with the population) and nobody seems to have the stomach to even think about that.  Instead, they chase off BS rhetoric, ineffective "feel-good" solutions, and finger-pointing at everyone else, instead of looking at their own lifestyle.

As for the big issue of energy conservation, a good topic for the TO forum should be how to drive a wood stake into the heart of the long-distance trucking industry in this country and get that traffic back on the rails--which are THREE TIMES more energy-efficient than trucking.  Or how about how to build a truly effective national rail passenger rail network and throw the Interstate Highway system into the dustbin of history, where it belongs.

Wally,

You have hit several nails on their heads.  Most of the folks crying for us to not do this or not do that, are often amonst the worst offenders! They don't want auto emissions, but drive those 12 mph SUVs.  They don't want nature spoiled but they want a four lane highway and paved parking in order to go see it.  And they, as you noted, have to have thier large homes heated with some fossil fuel.  And they communicate about conservation electronically which of course demands electricity!  One day we might actually find that one person who is energy wise, rides a bike everywhere, and wears twelve layers of animal fur to keep warm in their cave.   That may be the oen and only true conservationist!

Rob

Once again, I'm not Wally.