SOUTH CHARLESTON – The Friends of Coal spent a great day at the South Charleston location of Cabela’s Saturday, August 31, celebrating Coal Miner Appreciation Day.

West Virginia Coal Association Senior Vice President Chris Hamilton, Sen. Art Kirkendoll (D-Logan) and bow expert Frank Addington, Jr. were on hand to greet the shoppers at the store along with staff from the Friends of Coal organization.

Charleston, WV (Aug. 15, 2013) – According to information released by the West Virginia Division of Commerce in February, West Virginia coal exports grew by 40 percent last year, increasing from $5.3 billion in 2011 to $7.4 billion in 2012. West Virginia coal accounted for 49 percent of U.S. coal exports in 2012.

 

The West Virginia Coal Forum – an organization representing both labor and management in the coal industry – and co-host West Liberty University will conduct a meeting to discuss the significance of coal exports to our state and national economies from 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 15 at West Liberty University’s Highland Energy Center, located in Triadelphia, West Virginia (near the Cabela’s retail store).

The following is an update schedule for the WVCA’s Speakers Bureau – will become a weekly update as in the “Events” section below.

DATE	PLACE	SPEAKER
SEPTEMBER
11th	Bluefield Coal Show	B. Raney
23rd	Platts Coal Marketing Days	B. Raney

Three coal-related administrative rules were recently filed with the Legislature for consideration during the 2014 Regular Session.  WV DEP filed its final Water Quality Standards Rule that includes revisions to the standards for beryllium (from .0077 ug/l to 4 ug/l) and aluminum (conversion to a hardness based standard with no special restrictions for trout streams).  The changes to the water quality standards rule are currently operating as an emergency rule that was filed in March 2013.

Members of the West Virginia Coal Association re-elected MEPCO’s Jim Laurita as chairman of the board of directors at the Association’s annual meeting in White Sulphur Springs last week.

In comments to the organization, Laurita said “stiff challenges remain ahead for the industry, both in West Virginia and the nation”, but he remains confident that coal will continue to play the central role in meeting our nation’s energy needs.