Power outage leads to orange smoke

CHEYENNE -- Several motorists spotted an unusual orange smoke streaming from Dyno Nobel's chemical plant south of Interstate 80 near Cheyenne on Wednesday morning.

Turns out the unusual emissions were nitrogen oxides -- the same noxious gases in the "orange clouds" that used to plague blasting operations at coal mines in the Powder River Basin.

Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality officials contacted Dyno Nobel and discovered that a power outage in the Cheyenne area forced the shutdown of at least two units at the plant. Air quality officials explained that in normal operation there's a catalyst in the exhaust stream that "scrubs" nitrogen oxides [or NOX] emissions.

However, during start-up [or re-start, in this case] the catalyst doesn't scrub the NOX until the exhaust stream reaches a certain temperature. Air quality specialist Bob Gill said the orange NOX poured from the Dyno Nobel plant for about 30 minutes to an hour, according to reports from the plant.

The plant is a major supplier of explosives materials to coal mines in the Powder River Basin.

Wyo inmate dies in Oregon

CHEYENNE -- A Wyoming inmate convicted of sexual assault has died while serving his sentence in an Oregon prison.

The Wyoming Department of Corrections says Earl Leroy Brown Sr. died Tuesday at the Two Rivers Correctional Institution after a long illness. He was 51.

Spokeswoman Melinda Brazzale said details of Brown's illness are not publicly available. An autopsy has been ordered.

Brown was born in Powell. He was sentenced in 2001 in Goshen County state District Court to up to 33 years in prison for convictions of third degree sexual assault and possession of forged writing.

Brazzale said some Wyoming inmates are kept in out-of-state prison systems because of health or safety concerns. Brown had been at the Oregon prison since January.

Game & Fish moves grizzly

CODY -- Wildlife officials in northwestern Wyoming have captured and relocated another grizzly bear.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department says a 3-year-old female bear was captured Monday. The bear had been taking garbage and damaging apple trees at a residence in the South Fork Shoshone River corridor.

Game officials moved the bear to the Clarks Fork drainage, a site within currently occupied grizzly bear habitat and the Grizzly Bear Primary Conservation Area.

Officials take into consideration a bear's age and sex, as well as the type of conflict it was involved in, when deciding how to relocate the bear.

The department says humans can reduce bear conflicts by making attractants like horse feeds and bird seed unavailable to bears.