Wyoming’s coal industry says long delays obtaining new reserves is making it difficult to plan for the future and could take a bite out of production if the government doesn’t act soon.
By MEAD GRUVER – Associated Press Writer — Originally published Friday, July 16, 2010

Wyoming’s coal industry says long delays obtaining new reserves is making it difficult to plan for the future and could take a bite out of production if the government doesn’t act soon.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has been taking longer than expected to sell new federal reserves in the Powder River Basin, the nation’s top coal-producing region. Some lease auctions planned last year have yet to be held

Read the full article at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012377457_apwycoalleasing.html

By Emily Badger — Miller McCune — July 15, 2010
Fear of unemployment leads places blighted by oil or coal to hold on all the tighter to those industries.
One of the big oddities to come out of the Gulf oil spill has been this quirk of public-opinion polling: Residents along the coast overwhelmingly say their communities have been hurt by the disaster, but they’re also among the least likely people in the country to support a moratorium on offshore drilling.
Read more at: http://www.miller-mccune.com/environment/the-oil-soaked-are-least-likely-to-favor-regulation-19327

By ERIK ECKHOLM – Published: July 14, 2010 — New York Times

BLAIR, W.Va. — Federal officials are considering whether to veto mountaintop mining above a little Appalachian valley called Pigeonroost Hollow, a step that could be a turning point for one of the country’s most contentious environmental disputes.

The Army Corps of Engineersapproved a permit in 2007 to blast 400 feet off the hilltops here to expose the rich coal seams, disposing of the debris in the upper reaches of six valleys, including Pigeonroost Hollow.

But the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration, in a break with President George W. Bush’s more coal-friendly approach, has threatened to halt or sharply scale back the project known as Spruce 1. The agency asserts that the project would irrevocably damage streams and wildlife and violate the Clean Water Act.

Read the full article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/us/15mining.html

By Ken Ward Jr. – July 14, 2010

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The April 5 explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine was so large and powerful that it ripped through more than 2 1/2 miles of underground tunnels “in an instant,” leaving debris, soot and roof falls that continue to hamper investigation teams, a special adviser to Gov. Joe Manchin said Wednesday.

“That’s a tremendous amount of energy released relatively quickly, and it spread in a large area very quickly,” said Davitt McAteer, a former top federal mine safety regulator leading an independent probe for Manchin. “All of this suggests to us that the forces at work are complicated, are severe and are large.”

Read more at http://wvgazette.com/rssFeeds/201007140860

By JAMES MacPHERSON — BISMARCK, N.D.

Operators of a coal drying plant in southwestern North Dakota said the new factory has passed its first commercial-scale test using 450 tons of low-grade lignite from New Zealand.

Robert French, the chief executive officer of GTL Energy USA Ltd., said the plant near South Heart successfully removed 65 percent of the water from the low-quality lignite, allowing it to burn cleaner and produce more than 40 percent additional energy.

“The technology has been proven at the South Heart plant,” French said of the factory, which was completed in March after about 15 months of construction.

Read more at http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9GU845O0.htm

MONDAY, 12 JULY 2010

St. Louis, US-based coal producer Arch Coal’s subsidiary Canyon Fuel Company said on July 9 that it is working closely and cooperatively with the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) with the goal of resuming operations at its Dugout coal mine as soon as possible

The mine in Carbon County, Utah, where production has been temporarily idled since June 22, 2010 due to an ignition incident at the longwall, has had a remote monitoring system installed that will help determine whether any combustion activity is occurring.

http://www.steelorbis.com/steel-news/latest-news/archcoal-expects-dugout-canyon-mine-to-be-down-for-longer-than-expected-542673.htm

By Ken Ward Jr. – July 1, 2010

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Four Massey Energy foremen were charged Thursday with criminal mine safety violations in a move that federal prosecutors said ends their four-year probe of the fire that killed two workers at the company’s Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in Logan County.

Those charged were Donald R. Hagy Jr., 47, of Gilbert; Terry L. Shadd, 37, of Chapmanville; Edward R. Ellis Jr., 38, of Justice; and Michael A. Plumley, 38, of Delbarton.

Read more at http://wvgazette.com/rssFeeds/201007010607

By Ken Ward Jr. – June 29, 2010

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two Massey Energy mines in Southern West Virginia were among those removed from review for potential tougher enforcement last year by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, agency officials confirmed Tuesday.

Massey’s Justice No. 1 and Black Castle mines were among those MSHA identified for possible “pattern of violations” orders, but did not review in more detail because of agency “resource limitations.”

Read more at http://wvgazette.com/rssFeeds/201006290805

By Ken Ward Jr. – June 29, 2010

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Congressional Democrats on Tuesday released a “discussion draft” of proposed legislation they said would make it easier to shut down renegade coal operators and prevent a repeat of the April explosion that killed 29 workers at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County.

Supporters said the measure is aimed at beefing up the controversial “pattern of violations” enforcement process, better defending miners who speak out against unsafe practices, and generally giving the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration more tools to protect mine workers.

Read more at http://wvgazette.com/rssFeeds/201006291300

June 28, 2010

Bobby L. Smith has been identified as the miner killed in the accident at the Leeco 68 mine on June 24. The mine, owned by James River Coal, is located in Jeff, KY. Smith’s death is the fifth mining death in Kentucky this year. The Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has said it will investigate the death.

Read article at http://www.kypost.com/dpp/news/state/bobby-l.-smith-identified-as-miner-killed-in-perry-county-mining-accident