The Coalition for Mountaintop Mining hosted a meeting August 12 at the Earl Ray Tomblin Lodge in Logan. Coalition Chair Chris Hamilton said the meeting was well attended – drawing some 30 representatives from around the region to discuss the current issues facing the coal industry, including HR 2018, the Rahall-sponsored bill that would reel in the EPA and restore balance to the relationship between state and federal regulatory agencies.

Metinvest broke ground on a new project August 3 near Ellamore, in Randolph County. Roaring Creek Coal Company, LLC will start operations during January 2013 and will add another 1.6 million tons of high quality coking coal to Metinvest’s capacity. Once completed, the mine complex will produce 1.6 million tons of high quality metallurgical coal per year, create 258 high paying jobs, and generate more than $11 million in severance and excise tax revenue annually.

The project is a $150 million investment in the economy of northeast West Virginia by Metinvest and United Coal Company.

“We are very pleased that this groundbreaking has occurred less than one month following the grand opening of our Affinity Mine,” states Michael Zervos, President of United Coal Company - Metinvest’s overseas coal subsidiary. “These projects are the foundation of Metinvest’s growth strategy for UCC- by 2014 our operations will produce more than eight million tons of processed coal per year, of which approximately 85 percent will be high quality metallurgical coal. Nearly five million tons will be produced annually in West Virginia.”

Wednesday, August 17^th will be Friends of Coal Day at the West Virginia State Fair. The FOC will man a table at the Fair. The day’s hand stamp will feature the Friends of Coal logo and banners will be on display at the event.

After the success of last year’s efforts at the fair with just an informational table along the main walkway, the FOC believes this is an excellent opportunity to get information about the importance of coal to our state in front of thousands of people who would not necessarily be aware of its role – West Virginia’s farmers and visitors from across the state.

The Friends of Coal will share their table with FACES of Coal on the 17^th and will also share the table of FACES during their day sponsorship of the event Thursday, August 18^th.

Because the EPA has, in effect, declared war on the coal industry in West Virginia and Ohio—there will be a “Rally in the Valley for Coal” Thursday, August 18, at 6:30 p.m. at Riverfront Park in Moundsville.  The aim of the rally is to demonstrate to the Obama administration and Congress that the people in the Upper Ohio Valley intend to fight back.

The rally will be sponsored by We the People-Ohio Valley. West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney will be on hand for the event.

On July 21, 2011, the EPA released new guidance on the issuance of Clean Water Act permits for Appalachian surface coal mining operations. The new guidance replaces the April 1, 2010 version that has produced a virtual moratorium on the issuance of permits for new or expanded surface coal mining operations. The new version suffers from the same legal deficiencies as the previous guidance – failure to follow notice and comment rulemaking procedures and intrusion into the water quality standard-setting role allocated to states under the Clean Water Act.