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<br />.:.1' .: ..` 7! s^.. ^~ o ~:ot l.u{~•~:7: j-..:r'i'l'l _i lC i.i ~` •>,,~~ri•._. ..:
<br />T:9 ?l\ ?\, T' I F .ASI 11 "T'7 ! Fti ~I I ~I I rl .cvi~Ei ILI li~ ~'yy~yll I Ii~-tU t~c~.~~ ..: ::.1
<br />o'the
<br />. 'an-
<br />~'90s,
<br />and, ]iq-
<br />focus on -their core businesses,of
<br />specialty chemicals and healthcare;
<br />'S'ince t}ten,` the `coal' company
<br />north of,Meeker has been actively
<br />mai keteilby Grace'."and wliil'e specu-
<br />lation in the community is that tfie
<br />company is getting close to sellilig at
<br />least a,'poition of the iifitie, Grace
<br />officials say it's Eoo,pieliminary to
<br />announce.anythingyet, , -
<br />"We wont have ~anythirig to an-
<br />nouilce until w'e Have a signed'letter
<br />of intent on the transaction involy-
<br />ing Colowyo,.At,that time we_will
<br />issue an anri oun cement, but it's com-
<br />pany policy to'decline comment on
<br />street talk,"'said spokesman Chuck
<br />Suits. ~ ~ ;.
<br />It had been •i•umored a t~ansac-
<br />tion to~sell off a poitioil of C,,pp'lovryo
<br />had been in the works so tha£;a,",firm
<br />coal began payirigoffthis past sum-
<br />mer when the mine landed two spot
<br />coal contracts from utilities in=the
<br />Midwest. '~ '
<br />Colowyo shipped at least 70,000
<br />tons to. City Utilities of Springfield,
<br />Missouri and 20,000 tons to Illinois
<br />Power Company, in Decatur.
<br />The sales depleted Colowyo's•spot
<br />market stockpiles the company had
<br />budgeted for; "which was good news
<br />for Colowyo, considering that sev-
<br />eral coal companies have a lot of
<br />excess inventory et this time,"'said
<br />Coiowyo spokeswoman Bonnie
<br />Hulstine.
<br />"One of the Favorable things of
<br />th a spot sales'was that it was to new
<br />customers who hadn't used ourprod-
<br />uct before," added Hulstin@. ,
<br />Vice President of Marketing,Joe
<br />Vaccari credits a UMWA ~trike:at
<br />eastern coal mines for helping draw
<br />Midwestern utilities west in search
<br />of additional coal. Ironically, the new
<br />coal sales came whenfloodingin the
<br />Midwest was wreakinghavoc on rail
<br />and barge t'ransporta'tion systems.
<br />~•. ',. ;' _."S.r,:,`~: ~' ..~.~•.~ :.• . ~.:+ ::r&~t Y.JIa'Z3go::i.:L'yti~~:i i...,.... ~..r:
<br />Co~owyo as a' hole is considered,to 1:'§>~~J'tii'slt~i'at+El'~o~iiivyo's effortk'~to
<br />be prosperinfinancially. `•^'ieglail~i,'l~li$s°aio'und the mine.
<br />` 'o'''i4.1tH-o5~li' he group was im-
<br />"Weintelidifosellitasanongoing t~•llyr~s~c$'~iltWlhe'corliuanv's efforts
<br />viable bgsili@ s concern,•and that is
<br />fan, importan, observation.for,•em-
<br />ployees =~t t the transaction,~tk
<br />;volving,Colo -o•,willbe a trans8c-
<br />.tionfor Colowleo as an oneoine busi-
<br />• to rec~alm the site;:concern was ex-
<br />'!tl>=~R's tf"aH$it"`tlie''regiiiied foi-bes
<br />Cd"done ari excel-
<br />ig; statiilizilig the
<br />;oriservation, brit
<br />1.W W111V l,L.F Vl 6LlV LLb $re n6ing'Crlt7Cized oy the,am0llnt
<br />of which about 100 ~arldt~pRq~fpsbelsperacrethatmust
<br />,,...T}le,decision to sell the coal com-
<br />panywas made back in November of
<br />1991,.with the announcemegt ;of
<br />Grace's worlt~wide.business strat-
<br />egy as towhat businesses to focus on
<br />`as, core business. ,There were. six,
<br />five of ,which.,deal:,,with.,specialty
<br />chemicals and the sixth is special-
<br />ized healthcare. "So we have di-
<br />vested oFmost ofGrace Energy's.six
<br />unit holdingsdwith:the exception,of
<br />Colowyo;". said Suits., "Colowyo is
<br />the last unit to be divested.°
<br />~, ~. Just whenla,sale..is'likely to take
<br />place,,Suits . referred not~to com-
<br />ment:on,.onlysaying that "I,would
<br />iathei•~not: pl~t.la, ;timerframe~on`; it:.
<br />Because we are a publicly_•held com ;
<br />pany,.we.can~only announce,;ryhen
<br />.4P:+SlY~LH41!;La~.L~c :y4~/Jca. o.. •.1.~ ~.
<br />1;,';Bgj:gu,5e,,9f.'.the "tieitiendlius
<br />lamqutit9f•gllc, deer and antelope in
<br />-the arQai.tHe iivildlife are destroying
<br />,thq fozbs.fas>:er.;thait the company
<br />;;coq zesto4•e.aherrl: The group: ob-
<br />„sgrved, therspecial areas ;that' have
<br />,beeq•;feneed-o€f , ip ~ ali, attempE,., to
<br />-achieve the "1,000 stems=per-acre"
<br />"woody planES requirement, It would
<br />'be ironic, n'ote~'thegroup,thatifthe
<br />.'only,ivayl>~ achieve the require-
<br />I ment3 w~i~c~l was originally intended
<br />for t}le Lienefit ofelk and deer, was•to
<br />_fenSeT~lie"ejiiire~reclaimed area,to
<br />lorado coal com-
<br />, ..... , _._..
<br />!r relieffrom the
<br />soli reclamation
<br />colowyo ~s currGnttyane_iargest .and indizect jobs
<br />in western Colo-
<br />coal mine operating in Colorado, .
<br />rado'are:.generated by the coalin-
<br />producingapproximatelyfourofthe d stry.,__i1a7;i :;
<br />.. _.. _,
<br />- •
<br />20inillion~tonspei~y`ear:pTOducedin ;
<br />~Fl~,-=•...-..c•=- _•-~. ~
<br />•
<br />~_
<br />the .entire state. In October 1991, '
<br />Grace increased its.•bwnership in .
<br />Colowyo to 100 percent by purchas-
<br />ing M.A.,Hanna Compan}~s.50 Qer- ~,.
<br />cent interest.
<br />Athough Grace has divested in-
<br />terests in agricultural and automo-
<br />tive chemicals, livestock feeds, and .
<br />pharmaceuticals, with gross pro-
<br />•
<br />ceeds of mare than $225 million, it
<br />has continued to invest in Colowyo.
<br />This past summer the company
<br />installed a new dragline that is ex-
<br />pected to increase coal production
<br />from 4.3 million tons 4.75 millions
<br />tons this year. Tho company said
<br />the dragline was expected to have a
<br />positive impact on Rio Blanco an~~ :
<br />Moffat Counties by generating
<br />$132;000in propertytaxesin 1993,
<br />and it•is also expected to use
<br />$900;000 worth of electricity annu-
<br />aily. '
<br />'
<br />Iil a
<br />related•note, as;part of an
<br />Associated Gov„rnments;~of North-
<br />
<br />westCglorado , n ftiie'area,'scoal
<br />. .
<br />mme rec sine lon proaects in
<br />Au ,
<br />.
<br />gust, Rio Blanco County Commis- ~,
<br />sionersDon Davis and David Smith
<br />
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