Colstrip, Montana
Rosebud County
30-16525
Colstrip is a city in the U.S. state of Montana, United States and the largest city in Rosebud County. The main industries are coal mining and electricity generation.
For his 50th anniversary named the American sports magazine Sports Illustrated Colstrip to the top sports town Montana.
Geography
Colstrip is located in southern Montana and stretches over an area of 11.58 km.
In 2010, the population was 2,214.
History
Colstrip was established in 1924 as a workers' settlement, the coal should provide for the steam locomotives of the Northern Pacific Railway. The coal was mined by open pit mining.
During the Second World War, coal was used from the mine in Colstrip, so that the locomotives of the Northern Pacific Railway could transport military equipment. Since the mine thus an important strategic task too much, she was guarded to prevent sabotage. The workers were allowed at this time also their jobs do not cancel.
When the railway from 1958 only used diesel locomotives, the Rosebud Mine in Colstrip was closed. 1959 bought the Montana Power Company, an electric utility, the rights to the mine and left the operation in the 1970s to resume with the aim to build Colstrip coal-fired power plants.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the power plants of various companies like Bechtel Corporation were built. During this time, Colstrip experienced a boom, which manifested itself in a sharp increase in population. The power plants 1 and 2 were 1975 and 1976 operational, the power plants 3 and 4 in the years 1984 and 1986.
1974 Castle Rock Lake was completed. It is used to store the water for the four power plants. The water is transported via a 48 km long underground pipeline from Yellowstone River here. The lake has become a habitat for many animals.
The power stations 1-4 were sold to the power company PPL in 1998, the Rosebud Mine was from Westmoreland Mining LLC. acquired. In the same year Colstrip was incorporated.
- Construction of power plants in Colstrip
Framework of one of the power plants before mining slag heaps
One of the four planned power plants during construction