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Coal Plants in Montana

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The three new conventional coal plants proposed to be built in Montana are projected by NRDC to generate 848,279 tons of contaminated coal waste, including 783 tons of toxic metals. Montana ranks 4th in waste production expected from new conventional coal plants, and 4th in toxic metals from those plants.

Montana ranks 33rd in the country for contaminated coal waste, with 1,018,900 tons of waste reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in 2005. The state also ranks 37th in toxic metals contaminating its coal waste, with 364 tons of toxic metals, based on NRDC estimates.

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Statistics for New and Proposed Plants in Montana

Plant	County	Estimated tons of coal waste	Estimated tons of toxic metals
Otter Creek	Custer	678,623	626
Nelson Creek	McCone	113,104	104
Highwood	Cascade	56,552	52

Statistics for Existing Plants in Montana

Plant	Owner (primary)	County	Tons of waste	Percent of waste disposed	Tons of toxic metals
Colstrip	PPL Generation LLC	Rosebud	987,200	97.6%	326
J E Corette Plant	PPL Generation LLC	Yellowstone	31,700	25.6%	39

Percent of waste disposed indicates the proportion of contaminated coal waste disposed of in landfills, ponds, or on- or off-site disposal facilities. For detailed information on how each plant reported its waste disposal in 2005, see the detailed data Excel spreadsheet.

Sources: Permit applications for new plants; Energy Information Administration data; NRDC estimates. The most recent data available from the EIA is from 2005 and it is possible that operational changes at particular plants will have changed the yearly waste volumes and disposal methods. Click here for detailed glossary of terms and our methodology.

last revised 3/12/2009