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WVCA President Bill Raney and Senior Vice President Chris Hamilton joined Eugene White, Director of the WV Office of Miners’ Health, Safety & Training, to present two Murray American Energy operations with the state’s top safety awards at ceremonies held May 20th.
Murray American Energy’s Marshall County Mine, Marshall County Mine Loadout facility was awarded the Mountaineer Guardian Award for 2014 and Murray American Energy’s Harrison County Mine was presented the Eustace E. Frederick Milestones in Safety Award for 2014.
“There is nothing more important to our members than the safety of their people,” Raney said. “These two operations have distinguished themselves in maintaining the highest standards of safety.”
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Upper Ohio Valley residents have launched the Ohio Valley Jobs Alliance to support local coal industry jobs.
The State Journal reports the mission of the alliance involves energy, manufacturing, construction and other industries working together to create jobs.
Alliance President Bruce Whipkey says the struggling coal mining industry is integral to the region’s economy and that citizens need to fight for it. He said the recent announcements of more than 2,000 layoffs accentuates the importance of this initiative and that these layoffs will affect thousands of other jobs that support the coal industry and will hurt local tax revenue.
Learn more at http://www.ohiovalleyjobs.org.
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West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney took part in a panel discussion and presentation at the annual North American Coalbed Methane Forum May 21 in Canonsburg, PA. Raney discussed the current state of the coal industry in West Virginia, spotlighting some of the major challenges the industry faces in the current regulatory climate.
Raney said West Virginia coal miners were able to overcome these pressures in 2014, actually showing a slight increase in production despite significant layoffs, mine closures and permitting issues.
Joining Raney was the leaders of coal associations in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Robert Murray, President and CEO of Murray Energy was the keynote speaker pointing out the challenges faced by the industry going forward.
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Leadership West Virginia, a leadership development program sponsored by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, held its annual coal session in Logan this past week. WVCA Senior Vice President Chris Hamilton took part in a panel discussion of the importance of coal to the state’s economy with a focus on the challenges faced by the industry today.
Joining Hamilton on the May 15 panel were: Kevin Craig, executive vice president of Natural Resource Partners, L.P.; David Ledford, president and CEO of the Appalachian Wildlife Foundation and Alan Stagg, president and principal economic geologist for Stagg Resource Consultants, Inc.
The group also toured Alpha Natural Resources’ Running Right Training Facility, the Highland Surface Mining Complex and the Logan County Airport, built on a former surface mine. In addition, the group heard a presentation by Appalachian Power Company President and COO Charles Patton on the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) and its impact on the economy.
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The Friends of Coal Ladies Auxiliary and Wren Miles from Caterpillar presented Leslie Gray Baker with an iPad to be used as an additional educational resource at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine.
Ms. Miles explained that the project has taken two years to develop but they wanted to make sure that all the content was accurate, engaging and specific to West Virginia.
The unique iPad kiosk is set up in the Museum area of the Rahall Company Store and with its interactive programming, it is sure to be a popular component of the Exhibition Mine experience. There are touch pad segments on all aspects of the West Virginia coal industry.
Check out this new addition to the Exhibition Coal Mine in Beckley.
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The following students were presented with $500 scholarships by the FOC Ladies Auxiliary at their Mabscott offices:
New River Community Technical College: Cassy Bashan (Summers County); Andrew Kiddle (Raleigh County); and, Adam Tygrett (Greenbrier County).
Academy of Careers and Technology: Amanda James-Gill (Raleigh County); Haley Pettry (Raleigh County); and, April Stone (Raleigh County).
Valley College: Heath Stover (Raleigh County); Rodney Prevette (Fayette County); John Hall (Mercer County); and, John Crites (Nicholas County).
Congratulations to all of these winners.
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Yesterday Harold Ward, the Director of the Division of Mining & Reclamation of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) formally terminated the State of West Virginia’s participation in the federal Office of Surface Mining’s (OSM) preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to support its planned revisions to the stream buffer zone rule. WV DEP also announced its decision to withdraw in testimony on Wednesday to the Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee http://naturalresources.house.gov/subcommittees/subcommittee/?SubcommitteeID=5064
West Virginia joined Kentucky, Utah, New Mexico, Alabama and Texas in formally terminating their “cooperating agency” agreements with OSM on the stream buffer zone EIS and rulemaking.
OSM’s revisions to the federal stream buffer zone rule, now referred to as the “stream protection rule” and their supporting EIS, are currently under review at the Office of Management & Budget.
For a copy of the letter please contact Jason Bostic (
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The WVCA Annual Meeting registration information was e-mailed on Wednesday of this week, along with The Greenbrier’s room registration form with our special room rates. To receive our special rates your reservations must be made by July 5th. And of course, we would like to have the WVCA registration form returned to us as soon as possible so we can get a good count for attendance at our Annual Meeting. The meeting is scheduled for August 6 – 9th and we will be celebrating our 100th Anniversary. Since this is our 100th year celebration, so please note that Saturday night will be a black tie, tux and formal dress affair. Our special photographers will be joining us so this will be the perfect time to get a formal photo of the family.
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Friday evening’s Coal Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Stonewall Resort was well attended by many in the coal industry, with the evening honoring Calvin Kidd with Quaker Chemical Corp. (formerly with Long Airdox, Continental Conveyor & Joy Mining Machinery) and L. Newton “Newt” Thomas, Jr. who had a long career with Carbon Industries, Inc. We congratulate both gentlemen who are most deserving of this honor.
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