24/7 Biohazard and Crime Scene Cleanup in Colstrip, MT

Colstrip is an incorporated city in Rosebud County in southeastern Montana and, with 2,096 residents in the 2020 census, the largest city in the county.

Colstrip was established in 1924 by the Northern Pacific Railway as a company town to provide coal for its steam locomotives, but it was not incorporated as a city until 1998.

The 2020 census recorded 827 households and 961 housing units in Colstrip, which covers about 4 square miles at an elevation of about 3,202 feet.

The open-pit Rosebud Mine, about two miles south of town, strips bituminous coal from the Fort Union Formation and produces roughly 6 to 8 million tons of coal a year.

Colstrip's coal-fired power plant grew to four units: Units 1 and 2 became operational in 1975 and 1976, and the larger Units 3 and 4 became operational in 1984 and 1986.

Units 1 and 2 of the Colstrip plant were retired in January 2020, leaving Units 3 and 4, together about 1,480 megawatts, still generating electricity.

Water for the power plant is pumped about 30 miles from the Yellowstone River and stored in Castle Rock Lake, a 150-acre reservoir completed in 1974 that is stocked with fish.

During World War II the Colstrip mine was identified as strategically important for fueling Northern Pacific military traffic; it was guarded against sabotage and its employees were not allowed to quit their jobs.

When the railroad switched to diesel locomotives in 1958 the Colstrip mine shut down, but the Montana Power Company purchased the mine and the town in 1959 and resumed mining in the 1970s to feed the new power plants.

Colstrip's motto is 'Tomorrow's Town Today,' and the city maintains 30 parks and about 300 acres of green space.