Dana Mining to close 4 West Mine near Mt. Morris
MT. MORRIS – Dana Mining of Pennsylvania LLC will permanently close its 4 West Mine near Mt. Morris in June, eliminating 370 mining jobs.
Mepco Inc., Dana’s parent company, notified the state of its decision Tuesday and cited as reasons for the closing the age of the mine and poor geological conditions that have resulted in high production costs.
“The 4 West Mine simply can’t compete in today’s steam coal market as most of our competitors have the advantage of better mining conditions and the higher production rates associated with longwall mining,” said Brian Osborne, senior vice president of operations for Mepco, based in Morgantown, W.Va.
The company filed a Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification Act notice with the state Department of Labor & Industry Tuesday regarding the closure.
The company plans to idle the mine March 2, when it will lay off 191 workers. The remaining 179 employees will then work to remove mining equipment and prepare the mine to be permanently sealed.
That work is expected to be completed by June 1, when the remaining employees will be terminated.
The company will be working with various agencies to make resources available to help the workers find other employment or enter retraining programs, Osborn said.
“We’re very concerned about our employees and their future,” he said.
Greene County Commissioner Blair Zimmerman said he officially learned about the closing about a week ago and was sorry to hear of the news.
“I’m really saddened by the turn of events,” Zimmerman said. “I hope other local mines pick up some of the company’s (coal) contracts and hire some of Dana’s employees.”
The closure leaves only two major mining operations – Consol Energy’s Bailey complex and Contura Energy’s Cumberland Mine – in Greene County.
Mepco opened the mine in 2005 and since 2011 has been supplying coal by means of a 4-½ mile belt line from a facility on Bald Hill Church Road in Dunkard Township to Longview Power Plant in Monongalia County, W.Va.
The mine produced 1.9 million tons of coal in 2016, according to production reports from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
4 West mines coal in southern Greene County using continuous mining machines, which are less productive than longwall machines. Workers also mine Sewickley seam coal, which is above the Pittsburgh seam mined by most coal mines in the area.
The mine has had problems in the past with roof conditions at the mine, which Osborn mentioned in regard to the mine’s poor geological conditions. At times, the mine has mined coal above the workings of former Pittsburgh seam coal mines.
Following a fatality in January 2016, which occurred when a rock fell from the wall of a mine tunnel, the state Department of Environmental Resources prohibited the company for a time from mining in parts of the mine that could be prone to similar problems.
These were in areas where the mine was mining above the closed Humphrey Mine, DEP said. Dana also has worked with AMD Reclamation Inc. to treat water from the closed Pittsburgh seam mines in the areas it mined to lower the water level in those mines and prevent water from flooding its operations in the Sewickley seam.
State Rep. Pam Snyder called the company’s decision to close the mine unfortunate. Because of the mine’s geological and financial conditions, it has become more cost effective for Longview Power Plant to purchase its coal from nearby Cumberland Mine, she said.
“I deeply wish there was something that I could do to prevent this closure, but the company has made its decision,” she said. “My focus right now is on the miners who stand to lose their jobs and to advocate in my role as a legislator for proper policies and attention to the coal industry, which continues to be a critical part of our energy production.”
Snyder, D-Jefferson, said she has been in touch with Labor & Industry and asked the department to dispatch a response team to assist the dislocated workers with unemployment and job retraining opportunities.
“We must continue our work, every day, to diversify the economy of the 50th District for better economic prosperity and job opportunities,” she said.
The last major coal mine to close in Greene County was Alpha Natural Resources’ Emerald Mine in Waynesburg. That mine employed about 445 workers in August 2014, when the company announced it would close the mine in November 2015.