According to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Governor Joe Manchin and Congressional representative Nick Rahall went to Fola to obtain some answers about the company’s plan for the mine.
“They [Consol] want to be there and they want to make investments and they want to mine the reserves that they have,” Manchin told the paper.
“With that, now, we have the uncertainty because of court action right now on a determination of timing to get this worked out. Hopefully there will be a stay there and we can continue to work.”
Consol said earlier this month that it would lay off about 104 workers at the Little Eagle Coal Company and approximately 378 at the Fola Coal Company because of lawsuits filed by regional environmental groups.
The miners received notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act – a federally mandated communication – at the time that lay-offs would commence at 12.01am local time February 7, 2010, over a 14-day period.
Manchin said to the paper that the miners and the company were aware of difficult market conditions.
“What we’re asking for is the ability to live to work another day,” he said.
US District Judge Robert Chambers suspended the permits for the complex in November after ruling the Army Corps of Engineers didn’t allow for public input before issuing the documents to Consol. The permits were to be effective January 23.
Specifically, WVPB noted, the public was not permitted input on Consol’s environmental damage mitigation plans, a step required under the US Clean Water Act.
Manchin told the paper he felt the Army Corps was not acting atypically when the permits were issued and that there was nothing out of the ordinary.
“It’s just being interpreted differently than it had in the past. So with that being said, they have to be more cautious about how they do this, yes.”
Rahall told the news outlet that he hoped the coal company and environmental regulators could reach a compromise.
Consol did not issue a public statement Monday regarding the visit.
The two operations which make up Fola produced just under 2 million tons of coal in 2007. Portfolio-wide, Consol operations produced 65Mt that same year.
"It is unfortunate that, at a time when reliable and affordable energy is so desperately needed to reinvigorate our economy, that the nation's energy industries are coming under repeated assault from nuisance lawsuits and appeals of environmental regulations," Consol executive vice-president and chief operating officer Nicholas DeIuliis said in early December.
"It is Consol Energy's policy to operate our coal and gas assets safely and within the framework of the laws regulating our industry, but we oppose any efforts to use them to unnecessarily impede our ability to sustain our operations.”
DeIuliis warned at the time that the long-term economic viability of the Fola operations remained uncertain because of adverse market conditions.
"It is challenging enough to operate our coal and gas assets in the current economic downturn without having to contend with a constant stream of activism in rehashing and reinterpreting permit applications that have already been approved or in the inequitable oversight of our operations," he noted.
"Customers will grow reluctant to deal with energy producers they perceive are unable to guarantee a reliable supply due to regulatory uncertainty. It inhibits the ability to remain competitive."
