The company is already at the center of a flurry over a 43-mine inspection blitz held last week at operations it acquired in its 2011 takeover of Massey Energy.
In a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Tuesday, the producer confirmed that federal officials issued the order May 22 to its Mill Branch Coal subsidiary.
“[It alleged] that a hooving bottom in one area of the Low Splint A mine, located near
Appalachia, Virginia, would adversely affect the miners’ safety and health, and requiring withdrawal of the miners from the affected area,” the company says in the documents.
While it did not disclose the length of time the withdrawal was in effect, Alpha officials said no injuries were reported as a result of the condition.
The imminent danger was handed down to the mine just one day before the US Mine Safety and Health Administration’s three-state Appalachian inspection blitz, the results of which were still pending release at press time.
The specific operations targeted in that push also have not yet been made available.
The mines targeted by MSHA, which were reported to be in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia, represent some 30% of Alpha’s operating coal mines.
