Last coal train rolls to Arizona power plant as closure looms for major polluter
Source: Arizona Republic
Last coal train rolls to Arizona power plant as closure looms for major polluter
Ryan Randazzo, Arizona Republic Published 3:09 p.m. MT Aug. 26, 2019 | Updated 4:18 p.m. MT Aug. 26, 2019
The last trainload of coal rolled into the Navajo Generating Station near Page on Monday, marking the closure of the mine 78 miles away and starting a countdown for the plant's own darkening.
The electric companies that own the coal plant voted in 2017 to close it, citing lower prices from natural-gas plants.
The last load from the electric train means the current 265-person workforce at Peabody Energy's Kayenta Mine will be reduced to a "smaller crew" responsible for filling in the massive holes scraped by drag lines and returning the area to a landscape suitable for native plants and animals as well as livestock.
With about 42 days of fuel stockpiled on site, the power plant will remain open a bit longer.
Peabody officials said they now will attempt to move workers to other mines out of state when possible, and are trying to connect others to a local Workforce Development Center.
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Read more: https://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/energy/2019/08/26/navajo-generating-station-receives-last-trainload-coal-mine-kayenta/2089822001/
