Quote
Durango Herald
> Shortage of coal leaves some without heat source
>
>
Supply issues limit what Hay Gulch Coal can
> offer to homeowners
>
> Hay Gulch Coal – one of the only suppliers of
> coal for home-heating purposes in the Four Corners
> – has been forced to all but close this fall
> because of a lack of available coal to sell.
>
> “I’m pretty saddened I can’t supply the coal
> they require,” said owner Mike Crawford. “I
> hate to let people down that rely on me.”
>
> For years, people who use coal to heat their homes
> have traveled to rural western La Plata County to
> buy coal from the King I and now King II coal
> mines on County Road 120, about 15 miles west of
> Durango.
>
> About 11 years ago, as the mine planned an
> expansion, the operator – GCC Energy –
> contracted with Crawford to sell the coal at a
> site a few miles down the road to eliminate
> conflicts with mine operations.
>
>
‘Supply is very low right now’
> This summer, however, GCC Energy installed a new
> piece of equipment that processes a higher
> efficiency, “cleaner” coal, said Chris
> Dorenkamp, mine manager. Most of the coal the mine
> produces goes to its parent company for cement
> production.
>
> While the mine is producing at a rate 10 percent
> higher than last year, the new piece of equipment
> operates at a set rate and doesn’t allow for
> high surges of the “lump coal” preferred by
> people who heat their homes, he said.
>
> “It spins a certain tonnage per hour and
> doesn’t allow us to do the high demand for lump
> heating coal,” Dorenkamp said.
>
> A delivery of about 90 tons of “lump coal” to
> Hay Gulch Coal last weekend was sold in three
> hours.
>
> The lump coal that is available has gone to the
> Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, as well
> as the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad in Chama,
> New Mexico, which prefer to fuel their steam
> locomotives with the same kind of coal people use
> in their homes.
>
> As a result, deliveries to Hay Gulch Coal have all
> but ceased. On the rare occasions this fall when
> the company has received a coal shipment, Crawford
> said it hasn’t lasted long.
>
>
Railroads to reduce demand
> There appears to be some light at the end of the
> tunnel for customers left in the cold with the
> shortage of available coal.
>
> The railroad in Chama recently shut down for the
> season, and the D&SNG will start its less frequent
> schedule of winter rides in the next few weeks,
> which for Hay Gulch Coal means there’ll be more
> coal to go around.
>
> Al Harper, owner of the D&SNG, said the train
> receives about four deliveries of coal a week over
> the summer peak season. In the winter, however,
> shipments drop to about one a week, he said.
>
> Harper did not have exact numbers when contacted
> this week for how much coal the train uses in a
> year.
>
> “We use a fraction of coal in winter that we do
> in summer,” he said. “So there should be a lot
> of extra coal.”
>
>
>
Read the full article (plus some photos)
> here:
> [
durangoherald.com]
>
