The Association will join several other business groups to sponsor a reception for State Supreme Court of Appeals Justice "Spike" Maynard on Wednesday, November 15th. It will begin at 6:00 p.m. at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce offices on Kanawha Boulevard in Charleston.
Association Chairman Andrew Jordon and Arch Coal's John Snider will sponsor a reception for West Virginia Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito on November 27th in Charleston. Invitations for the event that will be held at Andrew's residence are being mailed this week.
Several weeks ago numerous members of the Association filed a Petition for Writ of Prohibition against the West Virginia Office of Oil & Gas, Conservation Commission, as well as against Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC, Petro Edge Resources, and Eastern American Energy Corporation. We were challenging the Commission’s assertion of jurisdiction over the gas companies’ request for special field rules. If granted, the special field rules would lower the minimum distance requirement between gas wells on over one million acres in West Virginia.
On November 7, 2007 the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals granted the Petition and has agreed to hear the case on the merits. We will keep you apprised of the schedule and dates as they are made available.
The monthly Legislative Interim Committee meetings for November have been rescheduled for the 26th-28th in Charleston.
The Tug Valley Mining Institute will hold its monthly meeting on November 15, with Social hour beginning at 6 p.m. and dinner served a 7 p.m. at the Brass Tree Restaurant in Williamson, WV. Walker Machinery will host this meeting with Guest Speakers, Jeremy Starks, Friends of Coal Spokesperson and Beth Walker, Supreme Court Candidate.
The November meeting of the Kanawha Valley Mining Institute will be held on Thursday, November 1 at 6:30 p.m. at the Charleston House Holiday Inn. Montgomery Mining Equipment with Wiley Akers and Al Falbo will be the sponsors of this monthly meeting with George Fischer of Fischer-Smiecinski Consulting doing a presentation on “The History of Shuttle Cars”
Lord Monckton , retired international business consultant and former adviser to Margaret Thatcher, will join with Robert Ferguson, President of the Science and Public Policy Institute, to address the Eastern Coal States Coalition on November 14 at the Marriott Griffin Gate Conference Center in Lexington Ky. Please plan to attend.
Lord Monckton, an outspoken critic of Al Gore, has attracted international attention for his public opposition to the mainstream scientific consensus on global warming and climate change. Robert Ferguson, like Lord Monckton, has also attracted controversy for challenging the politics behind the science, and will present his new text -- “Essential Readings in Climate Science” on November 14.
These presentations will be extremely informative and arm coal association executives with useful facts and resources…
For more information on either speaker you may want to goggle their name or if you have any questions or need more information please let me know.
John Christy of the U.N’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (co-recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize) responds to questions by CNN anchor Miles O’Brien in the link below. Taken from the Wall Street Journal under “Notable & Quotable”.
O'BRIEN: I assume you're not happy about sharing this award with Al Gore. You going to renounce it in some way?
CHRISTY: Well, as a scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, I always thought that, and I may sound like the Grinch who stole Christmas here, that prizes were given for performance, and not for promotional activities. And when I look at the world, I see that the carbon dioxide rate is increasing, and energy demand, of course, is increasing. And that's because, without energy, life is brutal and short. So I don't see very much effect in trying to scare people into not using energy when it is the very basis of how we can live in our society.
O'BRIEN: So what about the movie do you take issue with, then, Dr. Christy?
The Kanawha County Schools has instituted an energy center/curriculum which is housed at Saint Albans High School. More details will follow after their initial meeting, scheduled for October 30.
Howard T. Harris, a 54 year old electrician, was killed in a powered haulage accident at approximately 6:15 p.m. on Saturday, October 20, 2007. Harris became pinned between a continuous haulage system dolly and the belt conveyor. There were no eye witnesses to the accident. This fatality occurred at the Pleasant Hill Mine of Carter Roag Coal Company (United Coal – Bristol, VA) at Mill Creek near the community of Mabie in Randolph County, WV. The Pleasant Hill Mine is the only active coal mine in Randolph County; the mine produces approximately 1 million tons a year and employs 105 miners.
The head of Cecil I. Walker Machinery Co. said eight employees have
been laid off and more could be let go if a March ruling by U.S.
District Judge Chuck Chambers isn't overturned.
Steve Walker, president of Walker Machinery, claimed Chambers' ruling
could eventually shut down southern West Virginia's coalfields.
He charged the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West
Virginia with "making up the law," being "anti-coal" and
"over-reaching." He also criticized the state's Democratic leadership
for not being more supportive of the coal industry.
Walker Machinery sells and refurbishes heavy equipment used by the coal
and construction industries. Walker has 775 employees and a $40 million
annual payroll.
Representatives of the West Virginia Coal Association will testify
Wednesday evening in favor of proposed revisions to the federal Stream
Buffer Zone regulations.
The rule changes are proposed by the federal Office of Surface Mining,
which will conduct a public hearing on the subject, Wednesday, October
24, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Charleston House Holiday Inn in
Charleston.
WVCA President Bill Raney will testify in support of the rule change,
along with others from the Association’s staff and membership
When it comes to new coal mine safety regulations, the state of West
Virginia and the federal government may not be on the same page.
It has been nearly two years since the Sago mine tragedy, and there has
been little improvement in underground mine communications. State
government officials in Charleston are pushing to have a
Legislature-mandated miner tracking program in place by late 2008 while
the feds are aiming for June 15, 2009, to implement regulations that
may or may not be more stringent than those in West Virginia.
West Virginia coal operators are not yet in compliance with mine safety
regulations passed by the state Legislature in 2006, and they are
facing more laws enacted this year.
Spawned by a January 2006 Sago Mine explosion that killed 12 miners in
Upshur County and a fire that killed two at the Aracoma Mine in Logan
County, the bills approach mine safety from two directions.
State Senate Bill 247, passed in February 2006, is intended to help coal miners survive mining disasters.
A newer Mountain State law, effective July 1, is Senate Bill 68, which focuses on preventing disasters from happening.
The 2006 regulation mandates establishment of emergency shelters within
1,000 feet of where miners are working, daily inspection of air
supplies, installation of emergency air supplies equal to 30 minutes of
walking time, wireless communication and tracking devices capable of
two-way communication.
The next meeting of the Eastern Coal States Group is planned for November 13-14 at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort and Conference Center in Lexington, Kentucky.
The meeting will feature four primary agenda items: environmental litigation, global climate change, mine safety and public communications.
A reception and dinner is planned for the evening of November 13th and the business portion and technical presentations will be from 9 a.m. to 12 noon on the 14th.
For further information contact Chris Hamilton at the Association offices (304) 342-4153 or leave message at (304) 414-2334.
