HIGH AND DRY: Toxic coal ash could be the next opportunity - or broken promise - for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe

COLSTRIP, Montana-After a 10-hour shift at the coal-fired power plant in the small southeastern Montana town of Colstrip, Northern Cheyenne tribal member Jason Small drives three minutes down the road to a local taco truck. Dressed in a zip-up hoodie and jeans, he grabs a burrito and heads next door for a late-afternoon beer at the Whiskey Gulch Saloon, a nearly empty bar where the staff all know him.

Small has worked at the Colstrip Steam Electric Station for about 20 years. He's a boilermaker, doing maintenance and repairs for the plant's two remaining coal-fired generating units, which are capable of producing up to 1,480 megawatts of electricity. The other two units shut down in 2020 – two years ahead of schedule – because their owners, Talen Montana and Puget Sound Energy, could not cover their costs.

Colstrip has provided power to cities across the Northwest since the 1970s. Now, as state environmental regulations in Washington and Oregon require four of the plant's six owners based in these states to pull out of coal-fired power by 2025 and 2030, respectively, the plant's future is uncertain. "You don't know if this thing is shutting down in two weeks or tomorrow morning or five years from now or 2040," Small said.

https://nativenewsonline.net/environment/high-and-dry-how-toxic-coal-ash-could-be-the-next-opportunity-or-the-next-broken-promise-for-the-northern-cheyenne-tribe-2