Arch Coal Earns West Virginia's Top Environmental Award for Third Consecutive Year
Arch Coal Earns West Virginia's Top Environmental Award for Third Consecutive Year
January 20, 2004 at 9:25 PM EST
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Jan. 20, 2004) - Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) today announced that its Arch of West Virginia subsidiary earned top honors for reclamation excellence from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.
It is the third year in a row that an Arch Coal subsidiary claimed the top environmental award in the state, the Greenlands Award, for its outstanding achievements in post-mining land use. In 2003 and 2002, Arch's subsidiaries Coal-Mac, Inc. and Mingo Logan Coal Company received the prestigious award.
Arch of West Virginia's Ruffner Mine received the 2003 award for its creation of stable habitat for wildlife and hay and pasture land for livestock grazing. A variety of native wildlife species, including wood ducks, whitetail deer, wild turkey, black bear and mourning doves, are thriving on this former mine site that features hardwood trees and wildflowers.
In addition, Ruffner Mine's reclamation efforts repaired environmental scars of the past at no cost to the state. Ruffner eliminated more than eight miles of abandoned rock face, known as highwalls, and re-mined numerous coal refuse areas left at the site by a previous operator prior to 1977.
"This award-winning work exemplifies the environmental stewardship of the employees of the Ruffner Mine," said Steven F. Leer, Arch Coal's president and chief executive officer. "We're proud our subsidiaries are demonstrating year after year that coal mining can be done in an environmentally responsible manner."
Ruffner Mine's award-winning reclamation site is located approximately two miles southeast of Yolyn, W.Va. Arch of West Virginia employs roughly 275 people, and its operations produce 3.3 million tons of coal per year.
Arch Coal is the nation's second largest coal producer and mines low-sulfur coal exclusively. Through its subsidiary operations in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, Arch provides the fuel for approximately 6 percent of the electricity generated in the United States.
It is the third year in a row that an Arch Coal subsidiary claimed the top environmental award in the state, the Greenlands Award, for its outstanding achievements in post-mining land use. In 2003 and 2002, Arch's subsidiaries Coal-Mac, Inc. and Mingo Logan Coal Company received the prestigious award.
Arch of West Virginia's Ruffner Mine received the 2003 award for its creation of stable habitat for wildlife and hay and pasture land for livestock grazing. A variety of native wildlife species, including wood ducks, whitetail deer, wild turkey, black bear and mourning doves, are thriving on this former mine site that features hardwood trees and wildflowers.
In addition, Ruffner Mine's reclamation efforts repaired environmental scars of the past at no cost to the state. Ruffner eliminated more than eight miles of abandoned rock face, known as highwalls, and re-mined numerous coal refuse areas left at the site by a previous operator prior to 1977.
"This award-winning work exemplifies the environmental stewardship of the employees of the Ruffner Mine," said Steven F. Leer, Arch Coal's president and chief executive officer. "We're proud our subsidiaries are demonstrating year after year that coal mining can be done in an environmentally responsible manner."
Ruffner Mine's award-winning reclamation site is located approximately two miles southeast of Yolyn, W.Va. Arch of West Virginia employs roughly 275 people, and its operations produce 3.3 million tons of coal per year.
Arch Coal is the nation's second largest coal producer and mines low-sulfur coal exclusively. Through its subsidiary operations in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, Arch provides the fuel for approximately 6 percent of the electricity generated in the United States.