The past few weeks have seen the company idle its Samples surface mine and Winchester underground mine at its Paint Creek complex, West Virginia, due to high coal inventory levels driven by a combination of the CSX rail service disruption in February and continued weakness in demand for coal.

Appalachian thermal coal markets have been particularly hard hit over recent months by the combined impacts of coal-fired plant closures driven by EPA emission regulations, low-cost natural gas, and diminished export opportunities.

An estimated 35 out of 400 positions were permanently eliminated.

Internally Michael Day has been promoted to the new position of executive vice president and COO from his role as EVP – operations.

In his new role, reporting to new CEO Robert W Bennett, Day will have a greater role in corporate business planning and decision making, Patriot said.

He will retain his oversight responsibility for all of Patriot's operations, as well as the safety, engineering, purchasing and maintenance roles.

Former Peabody Coal executive Bennett recently replaced Bennett K Hatfield in the top role, having been chief marketing officer since 2009.

One of their first orders of business will be to address the suit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia last week that claims the company’s water runoff from more than 20 valley fills into the Mud River and its tributaries – including Lukey Fork, Ballard Fork, Berry Branch, Sugartree Branch and Stanley Fork – are extremely high in conductivity pollution.

The Mud River and many of its tributaries have been listed as biologically impaired by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection since at least 2004.

“Patriot Coal is flagrantly violating the terms and protections that are in its own permits, and this has created a serious water quality problem over a significant area,” the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition’s Dianne Bady said.

“Treating this pollution will be challenging, and should be a reminder that the coal industry has long avoided paying for the true cost of its mining operations. Instead, much of that cost has been offloaded onto West Virginia's water, its wildlife and its citizens.”

Patriot controls 1.4 billion tons of coal reserves, including 300 million tons of metallurgical reserves, and is one of the largest holders of Eastern US coal reserves, operates state-of-the-art mine complexes in three US coal basins, and benefits from broad transportation optionality.