Updated 3 September 2013,
http://olyblog.net/local-power-sustainability-and-democracy
The second largest coal fired power plant in the lower 48, West of the Mississippi river, is Colstrip MT. It is capable of generating nearly 2,100 MW at peak capacity.
I had a chance to visit last week, as I was driving cross country from Twin Cities, Minnesota, to Olympia, WA. I made a very brief visit, and was able to snap some photographs.
The landscape is immense, the scale of the plant seemed somewhat lost amongst the surrounding country of the Big Sky. When I read that the stacks are 792 feet tall, I was surprised. They don't look that big.
The country surrounding the plant was absolutely awesome and gorgeous. And the company town of Colstrip seemed quaint and well kept. The devastation that has been wrought by the massive development has been well hidden from the roadway. Most of the open pit strip mines and lagoons were hidden from sight on the highway. The destruction has been, however, well documented, notably so in the 1986 collection of photos by David T. Hanson, which is referenced in the updated link, posted at the top.
Here are some photos, and another comment or two:
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| 9 image composite panorama Welcome to Colstrip from hwy 39 |
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| Beautiful hills adorn the landscape of Rosebud County, nearby the Colstrip mine to mouth electrical generating station. |
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| Rock formations in the hills |
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| Ribbons of road in Rosebud County |
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| Geological Temples |
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| First view of the station |
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| Smoke stacks on the horizon |
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| Evaporator steam with stacks in the distance |
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| A view of some of the strip mines, most of the views from the road were obstructed by neighboring hills. |
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| excavator at work |
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| smoke stacks |
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| wideview plant |
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| medium view plant |
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| close-up 1&2 |
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| conveyor belt |
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| close-up 3&4 |
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| big shed |
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| coal pile |
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| on site facilities |
The facility is operated by PPL Montana, and Puget Sound Energy (which is owned by MacQuarie Group international) has a controlling stake in ownership.
This plant is capable of yearly producing as much atmospheric carbon as 3 or 4 of the 1980 explosions of the mountain known as St. Helen's.
A mine to mouth operation, several open pit strip mines dot the hills surrounding the plant.
One question that came up for me was how did the land come into ownership — in particular the strip mines. To whom were the parcels sold, and when, and for how much...
One group, Coal Free PSE, has formed to oppose the plant. A project of the Sierra Club, their website is
coalfreepse.org/.
It is my belief that technology exists so that human society could be powered completely with sustainable, clean, renewable energy — and that the work to phase out fossil fuels should have begun in earnest in the 1970s or sooner, perhaps from the very start of industrialization — the pollution and harm that is intrinsic to fossil fuel extraction and consumption should always have been attempted to be kept to a minimum. Efforts always should have been made to live in harmony and balance with the tremendous diversity of life that has evolved on this planet. As a result of 100+ years of intensive industrial growth, the world is being pushed toward a much degraded landscape, where the richness of life will likely be greatly diminished for future generations (see climate science twitter posts embedded below,) unless major efforts toward urgent action are undertaken as soon as possible. I like to think of it is as an international "race to the Moon" type effort.
There is a part and a place for everyone to play in this necessary effort to save the world from wholesale onslaught of industrial destruction.
Sustainable and living in harmony with nature are very much necessary components to the development of world justice and peace.
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