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mahatmakanejeeves

(56,886 posts)
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 12:48 PM Aug 2015

Alpha Natural Resources files for bankruptcy

Source: West Virginia Gazette Mail

Monday, August 3, 2015
Alpha Natural Resources files for bankruptcy
By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer
kward@wvgazette.com
304-348-1702
@kenwardjr

Alpha Natural Resources this morning filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, taking a long-expected step that company officials said they hoped would “enhance the company’s future as it weathers a historically challenged coal market.”

Bristol, Virginia-based Alpha announced the move shortly after filing its petition with U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond.
....

The move is the latest in a series of coal industry bankruptcies that has included Patriot Coal and Walter Energy, and comes as the Obama administration -- blamed by many political leaders for the mining industry’s woes -- is announcing its major effort to force reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s fleet of coal-fired power plants.
....

Alpha’s most recent reports to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration listed more than 7,500 workers, with about 4,300 of those at operations in West Virginia. Last year, Alpha was the second-largest coal producer in West Virginia, according to production data also reported to MSHA.

Read more: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20150803/GZ01/150809886/1419



I changed the main link to go to the WV Gazette Mail, due to Ken Ward's authority in this field. Also, the RT-D's story was from the AP.

Alpha Natural becomes 4th big coal company in 15 months to file for bankruptcy

Posted: Monday, August 3, 2015 9:38 am
Associated Press

Alpha Natural Resources is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the fourth big coal producer to do so within the last two years. ... The Bristol-based company operates about 60 coal mines throughout Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Wyoming. ... Coal prices have plunged in recent years as utilities have switched increasingly to natural gas, partly because of price, but also because of changing regulations.

Alpha Natural, which acquired the former Richmond-based Massey Energy Co. in 2011, would follow rivals Walter Energy Inc., Patriot Coal Corp. and Richmond-based James River Coal Co. in filing for bankruptcy during the past 15 months as metallurgical coal prices dropped 72 percent since 2011.
....

Alpha Natural has announced the elimination of more than 800 jobs this year.

More than two weeks ago, Alpha Natural’s shares were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The company said its shares were suspended because of their low price. Its shares now trade over the counter. Alpha Natural, despite reporting $1.8 billion in cash and available credit at the end of March, has not turned in a profit since 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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Alpha Natural Resources files for bankruptcy (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Aug 2015 OP
Coal is losing profitability because of cheap natural gas GitRDun Aug 2015 #1
They seriously thought coal was going to make a comeback? djean111 Aug 2015 #2
Not a lot of jobs in Appalachia Marthe48 Aug 2015 #3

GitRDun

(1,846 posts)
1. Coal is losing profitability because of cheap natural gas
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 01:09 PM
Aug 2015

Neither President Obama nor any politician R or D has anything to do with coal bankruptcies.

It's a laugher to blame regs.

 

djean111

(14,255 posts)
2. They seriously thought coal was going to make a comeback?
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 01:10 PM
Aug 2015

Hopefully there is something in place to help the workers find new jobs. Giving them some of that cash in the "$1.8 billion in cash and available credit" might help, too.

Marthe48

(16,690 posts)
3. Not a lot of jobs in Appalachia
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 01:49 PM
Aug 2015

So many of the plants closed, thanks to bad managers/owners like Emmitt "Rat-Face" Boyle, who ran companies into the ground, and all the jobs shipped overseas. When the plants near us closed, the workers went to the mines. Now, I don't know what anyone will do for jobs. I am really worried about some of my younger relatives. There are young people I know, who got good grades in high school, but can't afford college, who work in fast food restaurants and are grateful for any kind of job. Farming is tough around here. Timbering and oil/gas/fracking are big, but even fracking has trailed off with dropping oil prices. This is not an easy place to make a living. People travel through, but they don't stop.

I love the unspoiled beauty of this part of the country. I would say that some way of developing entertainment would be awesome, but then I think of the amusement park new Quaker City, Ohio that failed, and the Blackwater Zoo, near Mineral Wells that failed, and maybe ski resorts or other outdoor sports aren't the way to go. So I don't know what the answer is.

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