Unless you live in Montana, or you spend a lot of time looking at what is going on in the mining industry the odds are good that you have not heard about the Decker coal mine. For those of you who are less than familiar with the facility lets begin by taking a look at how one of the two companies that manages the facility has chosen to describe it, “The Decker coal mine is in the north-west of the Powder River Basin. Located within Montana’s Big Horn County, the mine has two areas: East Decker and West Decker. Since operations began in the 1970s, Decker has produced approximately 300 million metric tons of coal. It is presently sold to the US domestic market. The Decker Mine is serviced by BNSF Railway and produces approximately 3 million metric tons of coal each year. A sizable resource of 868 million metric tons and reserves of 138 million metric tons remain at Decker. Ownership of the mines is a 50/50 joint venture between Ambre Energy and Cloud Peak Energy, with Ambre Energy responsible for mine operations and marketing.”

Sadly the mine is getting ready to layoff workers by the month of January. While the number of layoffs is not set in stone, looks to be about 75 workers when all is said and done. If that is the case the company may still run afoul of a mass layoff action under the current federal guidelines. For those of you who are not familiar with the idea of a mass layoff action here is a look at how the company chooses to describe itself, “The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program collects reports on mass layoff actions that result in workers being separated from their jobs. Monthly mass layoff numbers are from establishments which have at least 50 initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) filed against them during a 5-week period. Extended mass layoff numbers (issued quarterly) are from a subset of such establishments—where private sector nonfarm employers indicate that 50 or more workers were separated from their jobs for at least 31 days.”

Interestingly enough the company, in its most recent release, chose to highlight work it is doing with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers instead of talking about the staffing changes they are getting ready to make, “U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues environmental assessment and determines the scope of analysis for Coyote Island Terminal, LLC PORTLAND, Ore. — September 19, 2012 — The United States Army Corps of Engineers has informed the applicant of the environmental review process and scope of analysis for Coyote Island Terminal, LLC, part of the Morrow Pacific project. Consistent with procedures followed for similar export facilities, the Corps will move forward with an Environmental Assessment (EA) process. Last month Coyote Island Terminal, LLC submitted an updated Environmental Review (ER), which will be utilized by the Corps in preparing the EA. The scope of the review will consider impacts at the location of the proposed dock as well as the associated rail unloading and storage site.”

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