I don't think the cement plant ever was n.g. - before coal it was probably bunker fuel. A key indicator might be: do the residents of Davenport have gas service? If not, my theory stands. If they do, then the plant probably was n.g. at some point. Anyway, if the potential buyer's process likes high-CO2 exhaust then burning coal might be just the thing!

Note: EPA's thinking of a new sulfur dioxide standard that might force even more emission controls than the plant already has. Ditto the new ozone standard that could make Santa Cruz nonattainment. Ditto the particulate matter standard recently gone into effect (since the area attains the standard the plant has to have all feasible control measures to keep it that way). Regardless of what the magic cement process likes to eat, a reopened plant will probably need a lot of work to come up to current standards since having closed for a while whatever old permits it had will probably need to start from scratch. All in all, converting to n.g. would be a Good Thing if they can afford to build the necessary pipelines.