Northern Great Plains coal mining - regional impacts

Extract: Rural communities in the Northern Great Plains (Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming) must plan for the impacts of large-scale development of the coal deposits in the area. In the long run, communities gaining population because of the new developments, but unable to tax the new mine or powerplant, will probably experience financial problems. In the short run, most affected communities will probably experience front-end cash flow problems due to lags in collecting revenues from the new projects. The combined effects of several new mines and powerplants in a limited geographic area may exceed the capacity of the community to provide services at existing levels.