Arch Coal subsidiary Mingo Logan Coal Co’s Mountain Laurel complex has earned top honours for underground mine safety from the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training. In addition, Coal-Mac has earned three top West Virginia state honours for achieving a strong safety performance and exhibiting exemplary environmental care.
The Eustace Frederick Milestones of Safety Award was presented to Mountain Laurel’s Mountaineer II mine for the best safety performance among West Virginia underground coal mines in 2009. In addition to Mountain Laurel earning the state’s top safety award, its Cardinal Preparation Plant also earned a third consecutive West Virginia Mountaineer Guardian Award for working more than four years and 187,000 hours without a single reportable injury.
“We’re very proud of the commitment the employees of Mountain Laurel have made to safety since the complex first opened in 2005,” said John W. Eaves, Arch’s President and CEO. “Moreover, Cardinal’s perfect safety record supports the ultimate goal of achieving A Perfect Zero companywide.”
Mountain Laurel complex and its Cardinal Prep Plant are located near Sharples, West Virginia, with a total workforce of 325. Previously, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) honoured the Cardinal plant with a Sentinels of Safety certificate for its ongoing perfect record.
Coal-Mac’s Holden 22 surface mine with the Mountaineer Guardian Award for working 634,211 employee-hours without a lost-time accident in 2009. Also, the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection (DEP) presented Coal-Mac with a Construction Award for its Duty Branch conveyor belt and pipeline project. The conveyor transports nearly 3 Mt/y of coal to the loadout, eliminating the need for trucking on public roads and reducing diesel fuel consumption. The newly constructed, triple-walled pipeline includes a fibre optic system that enables real-time monitoring and flow control to help ensure environmental protection.
The West Virginia DEP also presented the Turkey Habitat Award to Coal-Mac’s Holden 22 mine for the outstanding reclamation and remediation of a surface mining operation located in Logan and Mingo counties. The project included the application of reclamation techniques that created excellent wildlife habitat, particularly the promotion of the wild turkey population in cooperation with the Logan Area Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.
“Together the employees of Coal-Mac have achieved great things through steadfast safety and stewardship,” said Eaves. “It is gratifying to see the employees of Coal-Mac earn statewide recognition for being a safe employer and an outstanding corporate citizen.”
Coal-Mac is located near Holden, West Virginia, and employs approximately 300 people. In the past five years, the employees of Coal-Mac have received 10 national and state awards for environmental excellence, including the Department of Interior’s National Good Neighbour Award.
St. Louis-based Arch Coal is America’s second largest coal producer, with revenues of $2.6 billion in 2009. The company’s core business is providing US power generators with clean-burning, low-sulfur coal for electric generation. Through its national network of mines, Arch supplies the fuel for approximately 8% of the electricity generated in the US. In 2009, Arch’s lost-time incident rate of 0.71 was one-fourth the national coal industry average of 2.93 per 200,000 hours worked.
