North Dakota regulators say coal drying plant doesn’t need mining permit

ND coal drying plant doesn’t need mining permit

BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota regulators on Wednesday concluded a coal drying plant does not require a state mining permit, a decision that the plant’s opponents said they might challenge in court.

The Public Service Commission dismissed a complaint filed by the Dakota Resource Council, a Dickinson-based environmental group, and six landowners who live near the plant’s rural Stark County location southwest of South Heart.

GTL Energy USA Ltd. is building the plant to test a process called beneficiation that removes water and pollutants from low-quality lignite coal, which is plentiful in western North Dakota.

The plant’s developers say the technique, which produces chunks of coal the size of charcoal briquettes, decreases the coal’s weight, increases its energy value and allows it to burn more cleanly.

Kevin Cramer, the commission’s chairman, said the GTL Energy plant is not affiliated with a coal mine, which he said would be necessary for the commission to conclude that its developers needed a mining permit.

The plant “will have a useful life independent of any one coal mine,” Cramer said. “The facility is not operated in connection with a surface coal mine, and no permit is required.”

Linda Weiss, a Dakota Resource Council spokeswoman, said the group may appeal the commission’s ruling.

“We’re going to look at our options and see where we go from here,” Weiss said. “There may be several possible appeals, but we’ll be checking with our legal people on that.”

Should the plant be required to obtain a mining permit, its opponents say, the process would give its neighbors a forum to ask questions and press for environmental safeguards. Weiss said nearby landowners believe a coal mine will eventually be developed near the plant itself.

Great Northern Power Development LP, a Houston-based company, had applied for a permit to begin operating a coal mine near the GTL Energy plant. Great Northern withdrew its request last March.

“I’ve been to a number of the public meetings (Great Northern) has had in that area, saying that they’re going to have mining,” Weiss said.

GTL Energy USA, a subsidiary of Australian coal mining company GTL Energy Ltd., began building the plant in October 2008. Robert French, the U.S. company’s chief executive officer, said Wednesday he hoped it would be finished in a few weeks.

GTL Energy USA has already imported about 400 tons of coal from New Zealand to test the process, and expects to test coal from Australia and North Dakota, French said.

Solid Energy New Zealand Ltd., a state-owned company that produces about 4.4 million U.S. tons of coal annually, is a partner in the project. It operates seven New Zealand mines, with its coal used to generate electric power and manufacture steel.

North Dakota lignite coal can be 30 percent to 60 percent water, which degrades its energy value and makes it too heavy and expensive to ship outside the state. In western North Dakota, the coal is used almost exclusively to fuel nearby electric power plants and a synthetic fuels factory.

Lignite supporters are hopeful the beneficiation process could open up new markets by making it practical to ship the improved coal by train.