Mining in Wyoming

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Mining in Wyoming

• Joseph Abraham
• Chris Robostello

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Carbon, Wyoming
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Earliest Exploration of Wyoming Coal

• Somewhat of a scandal
• UP owned land and mineral rights but didnt own a
  mining company
  
• Wyoming Coal and Mining Company was Union
  Pacific's coal supplier
  
• Coal com. Stock owned by Oliver Ames and 5 of the
  Union Pacifics directors
  
• Company able to sell coal at highly inflated
  prices to UP
  
• As a result, UP formed the Union Pacific Coal
  Development in 1874 which took charge of the
  railroads coal supply
  
• UP Coal Department found ways of profiting from
  its coal
  
• Coal Department was able to prevent competition
  of other coal contracts by influencing the Union
  Pacific to charge outrageous shipping costs to
  other coal suppliers
• Ex. Secretary of the Interior, Dec. 2, 1874

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Coal Production in the Late 1800s

• Late 1860s and into 1870s coal production in
  state over 1 million tons per year
  
• By 1890 that amount had reached nearly 2 million
  tons per year
  
• By turn of century almost 3 million tons of coal
  were being mined

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Independent Mines in Wyoming that Contributed to
3 Million Tons

• Rock Springs
• Hanna
• Carbon
• Sheridan
• Newcastle
• Glenrock
• Inez
• Diamondville
• Kemmerer

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Coal Mine Disasters
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Technological Advances

• Draglines and truck and shovel operations now
  remove up to several hundred ft. of overburn in
  order to expose the coal
  
• Conveyor belts and haul trucks transport hundreds
  of tons each minute to sophisticated automated
  silos that evenly distribute carefully measured
  loads onto unit trains
• Man used to be paid by of tons he dug
• Today what took days of hard labor to dig can
  moved in seconds

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Uses of Coal Have Changed

• Chunks of coal used to be burned for heating
  purposes
  
• Today coal is used to generate electricity
• Currently only a very small of Wyoming coal is
  used as form coke in steel manufacturing
  

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William Friday West

• William Friday West, a rancher in Spotted
  Hourse, Wyo., allowed a mining company to drill
  for natural gas on his land. Although he's paid
  well, West worries about the future of his native
  state. "Everything has changed so much in such a
  short time," West said. "It's hard on a person."
  (Gerald McClard / Union-Tribune )

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Bad Effects of Methane Mining

• Stunts crops
• Kills trees
• Spikes rivers and wells with high levels of salt
• Reshaping ranch life

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From Deficit to Surplus

• Last year Wyoming projected a 183 million
  deficit
  
• Now its is enjoying a 700 million surplus,
  largely due to royalties from methane
  

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Impacts of Drawing Water from Coal Beds

• Each well produces about 12,000 gallons a day,
  much of it high in salt
  
• Runoff water is very harmful
• Ex. William West

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Rancher Opinions Vary

• Many complain that the 50,000 wells that will
  have been drilled into in the Powder River Basin
  within the next few years will only obtain, at
  most, a years supply of natural gas
• Other ranchers welcome the water, saying cattle
  and other livestock now depend on it
  

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Laws

• In neighboring Montana, officials have placed a
  moratorium on methane wells so they can study the
  risks
  
• Wyoming law doesnt require a similar review
• Boosting domestic energy production is also a
  central plank of the Bush administration

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Wyoming Homestead Laws

• The federal government sold early settlers the
  land but not the mineral rights
  
• Many gas companies obtain rights to the minerals
  and then give landowners a share in the profits
  
• Many business boosters and landowners disagree
  about whether or not the trade-offs are worth it

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Way of Life

• Wyoming used to be a quite place with wide open
  spaces
  
• Pumps, drills, and trucks create noise
• Drills, workers, new roads are taking over the
  land

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Environmental Factors

• Water run off
• Contaminated groundwater
• Soil Erosion
• Air pollution

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How much Energy is Available

• Plans to increase amount of drilling are in
  place
  
• Small amounts of gas and coal available
• Less than a years worth of energy

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US Consumption and Foreign Dependency

• US consumption of oil and gas has been
  increasing
  
• Imports of oil and gas have also been increasing

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Economic Costs

• Costly cleanup of closing wells
• 20,000 - 75,000 per well
• Who is really paying?
• Social Costs of Coal vs. Market Cost

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Economic Advantages of Mining in Wyoming

• State Revenue
• Royalties
• Taxes
• Individual Compensation
• Job Market

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Reasons for Increase of Land Available for Mining
in the West

• Increase in State Economies
• Domestic Use
• Decrease Foreign Dependency
• Politics

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Oil and gas companies gave more than four times
as much money to Republicans as Democrats over
the past 3 election cycles.
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Solutions to Drilling in the West

• Conservation
• Alternate forms of energy
• Make companies more accountable
• Taxes and subsidies