Proposed plant will take three years to build

Construction of a proposed plant in eastern Carbon County to turn coal into diesel will take three years, $2 billion and 2,000 temporary workers, a company official said.

Kate Perez, spokeswoman for Medicine Bow Fuel & Power LLC, said the proposed plant is pegged to sit at the mouth of an underground coal mine that is located seven miles north of Interstate 80 between Hanna, Medicine Bow and Elk Mountain. Medicine Bow Fuel and Power is a subsidiary of DKRW Advanced Fuels LLC, the main company behind the plant.

The coal would be converted into ultra-low-sulfur diesel, among other things.

A coal gasification process would turn the coal into synthetic gas, which would then be cleaned so that nearly all of the sulfur and carbon dioxide is removed. The syngas would then be liquefied.
Once the plant is completed, which is projected for 2011, it should employ about 300 permanent workers, including accountants, security employees, heavy equipment operators, miners, mechanics, engineers, lab technicians and a host of other positions.

"We plan to offer job training, which people get excited about," Perez said Tuesday during a public meeting about the plant. "They may say, 'Hey, I don't want to work at McDonald's anymore, I'd like to be a welder.' We can help them do that."

As with many companies in Carbon County, Perez said Medicine Bow Fuel and Power is concerned about housing the temporary and permanent workers who may not already live in the area, Perez said.

Perez said Medicine Bow Fuel and Power is considering temporary housing facilities, commonly known as man camps, that could house up to 500 people on site during peak construction times and winter months.

The company also is considering a chartered busing service to take workers from areas around Carbon County to the coal-to-liquids plant, she said.

DKRW has numerous environmental permits it must obtain in order to proceed with construction.

source:www.billingsgazette.net