Comprehension
In the morning we begin our first full day in the basin. An overpass across the tracks into the loading loop at Black Thunder provides a fine vantage point. I wonder if anyone passing by will be bothered by three people with cameras spending such a long time here. A security vehicle from the mine does stop and makes sure that we understand that many heavy trucks pass here and we should be careful. I have read about how seriously safety is taken at these mines – it’s good to know that they are watching out for my safety as well. I have worked in dangerous places at times and certainly appreciate it. As we slowly take in the landscape and minescape, I notice more and more of the scale and scope of what is in front of me and see that the ugliness so often associated with mining’s past is just not here. There is a necessary messiness in places but the attention to reclamation is so well done that the little signs pointing it out take you by surprise. We are beginning to notice more antelope close to the mines. There were not near as many as we approached across similar grasslands.
These first two mines are clearly enormous but their scale is still deceptive. They are the largest coal mines in the world and together produce close to 20% of the coal in the United States. They just don’t look THAT big. Recently these two have been able to deliver about 200 Million tons in a single year and that is still only about half of the Powder River Basin’s output. To put that into some perspective, the Wyodak power plant that we will visit tomorrow delivers 335 million watts with 2 million tons per year. We are visiting the source of close to 40% of the coal in our country and coal generates about 40% of the electricity.
A Russian scientist I once worked with had a favorite expression when our efforts turned out surprisingly well – “Sometimes Nature is kind” and that is certainly true here. The coal reserves are enormous, the lowest sulfur in the world, close to the surface, and beneath a landscape that is comparatively easy to reclaim both visually and for the benefit of the wildlife.
I came here as an engineer and a photographer hoping to find opportunity to create images expressive of the place but being careful with expectations of what would be encountered.
“To know ahead of time what you’re looking for means you’re then only photographing your own preconceptions, which is very limiting.”
Dorothea Lange