(The Associated Press circulated the following article by Josh Funk on April 4.)
OMAHA, Neb. — A snowstorm disrupted coal production in northeast Wyoming last week and kept more than 160 trains from being loaded with coal.
Union Pacific Corp. said in a statement that it could take perhaps two weeks to recover from the storm that dumped more than 2 feet of snow on the mine area in the southern Powder River Basin and caused flooding and road closures. BNSF Railway also serves those mines.
Coal is a key commodity for both railroads, which again hauled record amounts last year. BNSF and Union Pacific are laying more track out of mine area so they can satisfy utility demand.
Union Pacific said the storm kept it from loading 160 coal trains last week. BNSF did not say how many train loadings it missed, and officials did not immediately return calls Tuesday.
At the height of the storm Thursday, Wyoming officials closed State Highway 59, which is used to bring workers and supplies from Gillette to the mines south of the city.
Union Pacific said the mines started repair work after the highway reopened Friday at noon. But the railroad said one mine remained flooded Monday afternoon, and most of the nine other mines in the southern Powder River Basin were operating at reduced capacity.
West of the mines, the snowstorm dumped more than 6 feet of snow on some Wyoming mountains.
BNSF said it had stationed empty trains in and near the Powder River Basin last week during the storm, so they could be filled as soon as loading could resume.
Union Pacific said that to avoid bottlenecks, the railroads have to coordinate with the mines and utilities as production increases. Problems occur when the railroads send trains to the mines faster than they can be loaded or send trains to utilities faster than they can be unloaded.