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CHAPTERFOUR Environmental Consequences and Mitigation <br />of most of the individual activities described earlier would be 6 months or less, diminishing the <br />size of the actual impact that would occur. <br />The secondary employment effect of the mine would also require time to occur fully but the <br />long-term nature of the mining operation may encourage local businesses to expand their own <br />operations more quickly in response to the new demand for their supplies and services. What <br />most adds uncertainty to the timing of the secondary effects is the timing of the direct effects; <br />that is, the rate at which mine employment is increased. The number of mine employees is <br />directly related to the level of production, and the proposed action does not describe the point at <br />which full production would be reached. For this analysis, it is assumed that full production <br />would be reached after 2 years of operation and that all miners would be brought on during that <br />2-year period. The following discussion also assumes that, once reached, the full production <br />level of 8 million tons per year would be sustained. <br />Table 4-3: Red Cliff Mine, Employment and Income Impacts <br /> <br />Im <br />act T <br />e Construction Operations <br />p <br />yp Year 1 Year 2 McClane Mine Red Cliff Mine Change <br />Employment <br />Direct 55 58 47 250 203 <br />Secondary 32 30 53 336 283 <br />Total 87 88 100 586 486 <br />Income <br />Direct $2,780,956 $2,918,146 $2,209,723 $17,934,000 $15,724,277 <br />Secondary $1,187,594 $1,120,814 $2,011,882 $12,660,598 $10,648,716 <br />Total $3,968,550 $4,038,960 $4,221,605 $30,594,598 $26,372,993 <br />The 203 mine employees would make up a 13.4 percent addition to the relatively small 2005 <br />Mesa County mining sector, but the 486 new jobs created in total would constitute only 0.6 <br />percent of the tota12005 Mesa County employment. <br />The annual personal income estimated to be generated by the proposed coal mine mirrors the <br />employment numbers. An additional $15.7 million of direct income, generating secondary <br />income of $10.6 million, yields a total of $26.4 million, which is equivalent to 0.7 percent of <br />Mesa County's 2005 total personal income. <br />Property Values <br />A strong and sustained population growth over the last few years has had an upward impact on <br />housing and other property values in Mesa County. Any population increase generated by the <br />proposed action would be part of the continuing county growth but would not be of a magnitude <br />to further influence housing prices in any identifiable way. <br />There is, however, potential for the rail spur to have a downward influence on private property <br />values in the area through which the spur would pass. This is a fear expressed by residents living <br />west of Mack. The rail spur would alter the character of the CR 10 corridor, introducing an <br />industrial feature that would not be in accord with the current agricultural and rural residential <br />character of the landscape. Moreover, construction of the spur would define the corridor in such <br />4-17 <br />DBMS 572 <br />