JEFF GEARINO Southwest Wyoming bureau | Posted: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 12:00 am
GREEN RIVER - Over the past seven years, Bridger Coal Co. has slowly expanded its 34-year-old Sweetwater County mine to include a new underground operation, while maintaining the existing surface mine.
The new underground mine has brought additional workers, suppliers and vendors to the facility. What's needed now is a quality road for all those folks to arrive on.
Bridger Coal officials approached the Sweetwater County Commission Tuesday morning seeking help and support for a state grant application for $1.5 million to $2 million to fund the upgrading of a 1.7-mile portion of a county road to the new mine.
Officials said the segment is currently a rough gravel/dirt road.
Bridger Coal spokesman Scott Child said a new paved roadway would provide an efficient, "year-round, quality travel route" to the company's new underground mine.
"With the additional funding to pay for the paving of the road … we can get our men and materials closer to the work face," Child said. "We feel this will be a benefit to everybody involved."
The Bridger Mine provides the principal supply of fuel for the adjacent Jim Bridger Power Plant, a four-unit, 2,100-megawatt generating station that produces electricity for PacifiCorp and Idaho Power customers in six Western states.
The 1.7-mile road segment runs from the end of the existing pavement on County Road 4-15, where the main Bridger Mine office sits, northward to the underground mine entrance. "We're just looking to connect the dots between the (underground mine) gate the main exit," Child said.
Second try
The company approached the commission in 2005 to discuss funding the road upgrade. County support was given at that time to pursue a grant through the Wyoming Business Council's Business Ready Communities Program.
But officials decided the application could not pass the state's full grant criteria - particularly regarding job creation - and withdrew the application.
Things are different this time, Child said, because the company decided last year to continue operating Bridger's surface mine as well as the new underground mine.
He said that will mean more than 40 new employees will be required to augment the mine's current work force of 360 people.
"Hiring that additional work force … we feel that job creation will be a strong merit to possible qualify for the grant," Child said.
Business Council representative Ray Sarcletti said the council has approved similar grants for road construction projects. He noted Albany County received a $3 million grant to construct a nine-mile road to a stone quarry, and Carbon County received nearly $2 million for road upgrades to a planned coal-to-liquids plant near Medicine Bow. "We feel that sets a precedent for this," he said.
Commission Chairman Wally Johnson said the grant could help the company keep production costs down, stay viable in the marketplace and most importantly, keep the "high-paying" Bridger Coal work force in place.
"It's in the best interest of the county to do everything we can to help them … including this road project … to protect those jobs," Johnson said.
Commissioners agreed to assist the company with preparing and processing the grant application, to be submitted in March.
* Last we knew: Last year, the Bridger Coal Co. opened a new underground coal mine at its facility north of Rock Springs.
* The latest: Company officials approached the Sweetwater County Commission Tuesday seeking help to pave a portion of the county road to the new mine.
* What's next: With county help, the company will submit a state grant application next month for $1.5 million to $2 million for the road upgrade project.]]>
* The Jim Bridger Coal Mine is a sub-bituminous surface and underground coal mine that began operations in 1974 at a site about 35 miles northeast of Rock Springs in Sweetwater County.
* Bridger Coal is the largest coal mine in Sweetwater County. The company provides the adjacent Jim Bridger Power Plant with a continuing fuel source. The coal mine - with coal reserves of more than 120 million tons - employs about 360 people and produces about 6 million tons of coal per year.
* In 2004, the company announced plans to expand its operation to include a new underground coal mine that will tap into deeper coal seams. The additional coal will be needed to fuel the plant for another 20 years or so. The estimated cost of for transitioning to the underground mine, which opened last year, was $150 million.
* Bridger Coal Co. is a joint business venture with two owners. Pacific Minerals Inc. has a two-thirds ownership, and Idaho Energy Resources Co. owns the other third. PMI, the managing agent for Bridger Coal, is a subsidiary of PacifiCorp. IERCo is a subsidiary of Idaho Power Co.]]>