This article appeared on page A7 of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on Wed, Dec 21, 2011.
"The Wyoming Business Council has asked the Idaho National Laboratory to review a private company's plan to build a coal-to-gasoline plant in Carbon County.
DKRW Advanced Fuels - based in Texas - has asked Wyoming to purchase up to $300 million in industrial development bonds to help finance the $2 billion project. The company intends to build the plant near Medicine Bow.
Construction could begin sometime in 2012 and be finished by 2015. It would use a proprietary process to transform coal mined underground at the site into 10,600 barrels of gasoline a day to serve the Denver market. The technology is licensed from energy industry giants Exxon and General Electric and has been used at industrial sites around the world.
So, where is Medicine Bow?
From Wikipedia
Medicine Bow is a town in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 304 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Medicine Bow is located at 41°53′52″N 106°12′10″W / 41.89778°N 106.20278°W / 41.89778; -106.20278 (41.897668, -106.202796)[3].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.5 square miles (9.0 km²), all of it land.
History
Medicine Bow, like many other towns across southern Wyoming, was established as a result of the construction of the transcontinental railroad in 1868. The railroad located a tie boom on the nearby Medicine Bow River and built a depot, water stop, and coal-loading facility. Later, livestock loading-pens were built and Medicine Bow became an important livestock shipping center. The first load of cattle shipped to the Union Stockyards in Omaha came from the Medicine Bow area. The town grew up around the railroad facilities.
In the middle 1880s, Philadelphia lawyer Owen Wister stopped in town and wrote a description in his journal. He later used the historic setting of Medicine Bow as a backdrop for his novel The Virginian, which is considered to be the first novel of the "Western" Genre. In the early 1900s Medicine Bow was one of the automobile stops on Old Lincoln Highway (Junction of Hwys 30/287 and 487). August Grimm built the Virginian Hotel to accommodate travelers. In the early 1970s, the town suffered as a result of the opening of Interstate Highway 80 that bypassed the town, some 35 miles to the south. The town experienced an economic boom in the middle 1970s when uranium mines opened north of town and coal mines west of town expanded production.
The original Union Pacific Depot burned in the early 20th century, but it was replaced. In 1978, ownership of the building was transferred to the City of Medicine Bow and the town museum was started in the structure. Two years earlier, as a bicentennial project, local civic groups helped relocate the Owen Wister Cabin, built by the Wister family in the Grand Tetons in northwestern Wyoming, to a site next to the depot.
David L. Roberts (b. Lusk, Wyoming, 1954) founded the Medicine Bow Post newspaper in 1977, editing and publishing the newspaper until the early 1990s. Medicine Bow is one of the windiest places in America.
South of town, the first experimental giant wind turbines in Wyoming were built under contract from the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation in the early 1980s. Utility-operated wind farms provide electricity from windy points near Medicine Bow. In December 2007, plans were announced for construction of a large coal gasification plant to be built southwest of town. Completion date is estimated for 2014 as of April 2011 construction will begin on the concrete pad. Expected temporary works to the town is 1500, when the plant is complete they will need 450 workers to operate the plant. The town recently celebrated its 100th anniversary of incorporation June 26, 2009.
Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 304 people, 130 households, and 83 families residing in the town. The population density was 79.3 people per square mile (30.6/km²). There were 184 housing units at an average density of 53.2 per square mile (20.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.81% White, 1.09% Native American, 0.36% Asian, and 0.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.73% of the population.
There were 129 households out of which 18.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.60.
In the town the population was spread out with 18.6% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 13.9% from 25 to 44, 38.0% from 45 to 64, and 24.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 51 years. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $33,750, and the median income for a family was $35,156. Males had a median income of $41,250 versus $20,536 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,420. About 10.3% of families and 11.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.2% of those under the age of eighteen and 17.5% of those sixty five or over.
Education
Public education in the town of Medicine Bow is provided by Carbon County School District #2. Zoned campuses include Medicine Bow Elementary School (grades K-6) and H.E.M. Junior/Senior High School [1] (grades 7-12).
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