CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Former International Coal Group Inc. President and CEO Ben Hatfield has taken a job with Patriot Coal Corp.
St. Louis-based Patriot Coal announced Wednesday that it has named Hatfield as executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Patriot says the 54-year-old Hatfield will be based in Charleston.
Hatfield had served as ICG's chief executive for six years before Arch Coal bought the company in June.
Patriot says Hatfield's appointment is part of a reorganization of senior management.
Patriot operates coal mines in West Virginia and Kentucky.

At the Annual Media Appreciation Breakfast of the Bluefield Coal Show, West Virginia Coal Association Chairman Gary White today announced the Association’s endorsement of acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in the Oct. 4 special election for governor.  

White said the decision by the Association’s Executive Committee is in recognition of Tomblin’s lifetime of service to the people of West Virginia and his proven record of fiscal responsibility and leadership while serving as president of the Senate. 

WINFIELD — Thundering Herd fan Joe Haynes, a Putnam County commissioner, kept his part of an annual wager with fellow commissioner Gary Tillis.

But when Haynes showed up at the commission meeting Tuesday wearing a West Virginia University's lapel pin, blue and gold tie and carrying a breakfast biscuit, Tillis, a WVU graduate, wasn't on hand to get his prize.

Texas energy company Luminant announced on Monday new burdensome Environmental Protection Agency regulations are forcing it to close several facilities, which will result in about 500 job losses.

The company will be idling — stopping the usage of — two energy generating units. It will also cease extracting lignite from three different Texas mines.

The EPA regulation Luminant cites as too burdensome is the new Cross-State Air Pollution rule, which requires Texas power generators to make “dramatic reductions” in emissions beginning on January 1, 2012.

AP

The Chesapeake Bay has been a magnet of regulatory rules to prevent pollution through the watershed that spans six states.

 

From financial services to farming, plumbing to computer repair, business owners say new regulations have them so bogged down in compliance that it is hindering their ability to plan and expand for the coming years.

Even though President Obama recently acknowledged the need to minimize regulations, the number appears to be growing. Obama administration regulations on new business rose to 3,573 final rules in 2010, up from 3,503 in 2009 -- the equivalent of about 10 per week.

Indeed, the 2010 volume of the Federal Register, the "newspaper" of regulatory agencies, stands at an all-time record-high 81,405 pages composed of final rules, proposed rules, meeting notices and regulatory studies.