May 25, 2016 4 min read

ROGERSVILLE – A plan by Alpha Natural Resources to build a new coal mine in Holbrook was the subject of a public hearing Wednesday afternoon, just a day before a sale of the proposed mine’s coal reserves could be approved by the judge presiding over Alpha’s bankruptcy.

The sale of the reserves of the new mine, the Foundation Mine, and Alpha’s other core assets, including its Cumberland and Emerald mines and natural gas properties in Greene County, are scheduled to be considered at a hearing today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va.

Despite the bankruptcy proceedings, Alpha continued to move ahead with permitting the new mine. The informal public conference held Wednesday at Center Township fire hall by the state Department of Environmental Protection was part of that process.

Foundation Mining LLC, an Alpha subsidiary, is seeking to permit 9,438 acres of coal in Center, Jackson and Richhill townships for development mining. The company will later apply for a permit to longwall mine the same coal.

The mine’s surface operations will be constructed on the west side of Route 18, south of Bristoria Road. The 25.4-acre site will include a shaft, utility boreholes, bathhouse, water retention pond and parking area.

The mine’s rail and coal-loading facilities, which will be addressed as part of a subsequent permit application, will be constructed on property on the other side of Route 18.

About 15 people attended the meeting to talk individually with DEP officials about potential impacts of mining on their properties.

Penny Hughes of Holbrook said she came to learn more about the new mine. Hughes said she wasn’t sure how it might impact her property, but is against the mine.

“Why are they building a new one when they have one down there that’s closed,” she said, referring to the Emerald Mine in Waynesburg Alpha closed in November. With Alpha in bankruptcy, she said, “It doesn’t make sense.”

Veronica Coptis, deputy director of the Center for Coalfield Justice, said her group is concerned about how the company will comply with environmental regulations when it is in bankruptcy. The site where the mine portal is proposed is in a “high quality watershed,” she said.

“It’s in a very pristine part of the county,” Coptis said, one of the last not impacted by extraction industries.

Walter Young, who lives on Center Highlands Road and works for the Mine Safety and Health Administration, said he certainly isn’t against coal mining.

However, he lives on a hill overlooking the proposed mine’s surface facilities, which will impact not only his view but his property value. Young said he wanted to know how the company would mitigate noise, sound and dust from the facility.

His house is now “nice and quiet” and has a great view.

“The noise and everything else (from a new mine) isn’t going to make it very livable,” he said.

DEP spokesman John Poister said the possible sale of the reserves in bankruptcy court will have no impact on its review of the mine permit.

“We focus on the merits of the application,” Poister said. “What goes on outside of that is out of our purview.”

If another company were to purchase the assets and proceeded with the development of the mine, the DEP would have to ensure the company is licensed and is capable of being a responsible operator, he said.

An Alpha spokesman, contacted Wednesday morning, declined to comment on the proposed sale of the company’s assets in bankruptcy court.

As part of the reorganization plan, Alpha is selling off its “core assets” to raise money to cover its liabilities. Noncore assets that will remain with the company are to be used to generate revenue to address the company’s environmental reclamation obligations.

Following an auction May 16, Alpha announced the successful bidder for its natural gas assets, leasehold interest to 27,400 acres of undeveloped Marcellus and Utica shale in Greene County, is Vantage Appalachia II LLC. Vantage submitted a cash bid of $339.5 million.

Because no other “qualified bid” was received for the coal assets, the company said, the coal assets will go to the first-lien lenders who submitted a stalking horse bid of $325 million.

Sale of the properties must be approved by the bankruptcy count. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 10 a.m. today.