Wet weather has slowed work on coal mine railroad spur

This aerial photo shows some of the Bear Run Mine spur track work that is now complete. This view is looking to the northwest. Dugger is just out of view to the left. In the foreground is the new Bear Run spur connection to the main line, and trains will be able to connect in either direction. Further south, earth moving is still in progress. (Photo courtesy of Indiana Rail Road Company)

Wet weather has played havoc with construction of a railroad spur that will serve the largest coal mine in the eastern part of the United States.

Indiana Rail Road Company spokesman Chris Rund says work on the $17.5 million rail road spur to the proposed Bear Run Mine, located south of Dugger, is progressing as weather permits.

"We have lost more than 50 work days due to rain so far; however, we have gone to 24/7 shifts in certain locations to try to keep pace with our timeline," Rund told the Greene County Daily World.

The spur is 5.2 miles long and is entirely the railroad's investment, Rund pointed out.

"Our initial plan was to have the spur completed by the end of the year. Given the weather delays, however, we may have to complete some of the track work in the spring. We are pushing hard to at least complete all of the earth moving before the end of the year," Rund stated Tuesday afternoon.

The extension will connect with Indiana Rail Road's main track near Dugger (just east of town) crossing State Road 159 and then running parallel to the road.

As many as 350 coal mining jobs will be coming to the Greene-Sullivan county area with the opening of the Peabody Energy mine in 2010.

Peabody spokesperson Beth Sutton said everything is on schedule to begin production early next year.

"Bear Run development remains on track, with a planned ramp up beginning in 2010, reaching approximately 3-4 million tons and continuing to increase in following years. As you can imagine, we build flexibility into our development schedule to accommodate unforeseen events like weather," she said.

The new mine is being developed to serve power plants throughout Indiana and other Midwest utilities and industrial customers. The complex will include a mine, prep plant and related structures.

Sutton said there will job positions available in the near future.

"We expect to accommodate a number of positions with our internal talent, and we post jobs on our career hotline 1-800-287-4031 or our Web site, www.peabodyenergy.com. We'll also advertise as appropriate of course," she said.

Peabody Energy's Bear Run Mine will have an expected capacity of approximately 8 million tons of coal annually. The mine will initially supply two major Midwestern electricity generators under long-term contracts with terms of up to 17 years, which together are expected to generate nearly $6 billion in revenues.

Approximately $350 to $400 million in capital will be invested over several years to bring the mine to its 8 million ton per year capacity, according to Sutton.

Peabody Energy is the world's largest private-sector coal company, with 2008 sales of 256 million tons and $6.6 billion in revenues.