This article originally provided by The Zanesville Times-Reporter

May 2, 2008

Murray says 2 Ohio mines could close

1,000 miners could lose jobs in Belmont, Monroe counties

By M.R. KROPKO
AP Business Writer

CLEVELAND -- Coal mining company Murray Energy Corp. has warned that two southeast Ohio mines could be forced to close as a result of the company's dispute with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency over waste being dumped into a watershed.

Closings could end about 1,000 jobs at the two mines -- American Energy Corp. Century Mine in Monroe County and Ohio Valley Coal Co. Powhatan No. 6 Mine about a mile away in Belmont County.

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A plan the suburban Cleveland-based Murray Energy has for a new coal preparation refuse site puts at risk natural habitat for fish and a rare form of salamander, the Ohio EPA says.

The agency has proposed that a water quality certification be denied. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is joining the Ohio EPA in opposing the certification, which would allow Ohio Valley Coal to use Casey Run in the Captina Creek watershed.

Any final order can be appealed.

The Ohio EPA wants the privately owned Murray Energy to find another location for coal waste and refuse to replace a site nearing its capacity. Although Ohio Valley Coal made the application, the site is also vital to Century Mine, said Robert Edward Murray, Murray Energy vice president.

The two mines will be forced to permanently close if the Ohio EPA decision stands, Murray said Thursday in a news release.

The mines produce about half of the coal in Ohio, he said.

The suggested location is the best option for the company and water quality standards would be maintained, said Michael McKown, Murray Energy general counsel. He said Murray Energy expects the Ohio EPA to balance environmental issues with employment needs of coal miners.

The Ohio Air Quality Development Authority has estimated approximately 2,300 Ohioans work as coal miners.

In February, the Ohio EPA said slurry -- waste water from the washing of coal -- made its way into Captina Creek, which flows to the Ohio River. The state has been monitoring for any harm to fish or other wildlife. Captina Creek is home to the Eastern hellbender, an endangered salamander.

"We're concerned that even spills that have occurred from their existing impoundment can be having a negative effect," said Kelly Capuzzi, an Ohio EPA environmental specialist. "There have been seven slurry spills in Captina that we've documented since 1999."

Murray Energy, meanwhile, has other problems. The families of six men killed in a Utah mine cave-in sued Murray Energy and other mine owners, claiming that the collapse occurred because it was harvesting coal unsafely. The federal court lawsuit in April contends Murray Energy and its affiliates knowingly continued to perform risky retreat mining last summer.

The collapse trapped the six men in the Crandall Canyon mine on Aug. 6. Their bodies remain entombed there. Three other men were killed 10 days later trying to tunnel in to rescue the miners.

Murray Energy has called the lawsuit's allegation of negligence false.

Murray Energy purchased Crandall Canyon in August 2006 and shares ownership with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Intermountain Power Agency, a utility consortium comprised of about two dozen Utah municipalities.