BIRCH RIVER -- ICG Eastern will be holding its 5th annual Arbor Day celebration on Thursday, April 28, 2011 beginning at 10 a.m. at its Birch River operations. The event is always fun. Students from neighboring schools join staff and members of the community to plant hardwood trees on the site, and various related events are held in conjunction with the celebration.

If you have an Arbor or Earth Day celebration scheduled that you would like to include, please give us a call at304.342.4153.

BIRCH RIVER -- ICG Eastern will be holding its 5th annual Arbor Day celebration on Thursday, April 28, 2011 beginning at 10 a.m. at its Birch River operations. The event is always fun. Students from neighboring schools join staff and members of the community to plant hardwood trees on the site, and various related events are held in conjunction with the celebration.

If you have an Arbor or Earth Day celebration scheduled that you would like to include, please give us a call at 304.342.4153.

CHARLESTON – In a March 28 announcement, Governor Tomblin declared the week of April 18 – April 22, 2011 (10th Regional Coal Fair to be held at the Harless Community Center) Coal Education week in West Virginia, on Monday, March 28, 2011, at 11 am in the West Wing governor's reception room at the State Capitol.

Please Contact Georgene Robertson, CEDAR of Southern West Virginia, Inc. at 304/792-8433 for more information.

Source: Charleston Gazette

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Coal company Alpha Natural Resources Inc. is donating $300,000 for energy and environmental sciences research at West Virginia University.

The gift announced Tuesday is expected to qualify for matching funds from the state Research Trust Fund, bringing the total value to $600,000.

Dean Gene Cilento says WVU will use the money to focus on all aspects of energy research, from extraction to use.

Mining department director Jim Dean says the gift will support health and safety research, too, including the integration of new technologies.

WVU recently trained Alpha's mine rescue teams at its Academy for Mine Training and Energy Technologies.

Alpha, based in Abingdon, Va., is one of the nation's largest coal operators.

It's in the midst of a $7.1 billion takeover of rival Massey Energy Co.

Source: Seattle pi

By: Tim Huber, AP Business Writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Life-saving airtight refuge chambers stored deep inside the Upper Big Branch mine when an explosion tore it apart and killed 29 miners worked properly when tested last week, West Virginia's mine safety chief said Wednesday.

The refuge's steel boxes opened and the chambers inflated as designed when they were tested deep inside the southern West Virginia coal mine, said C.A. Phillips, director of the state office of Miners' Health Safety and Training. Officials from West Virginia, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and Richmond, Va.-based mine owner Massey Energy Co. conducted the tests last Thursday.