A coal mine along the Pennsylvania – West Virginia border is closing.
Around 180 miners at the Monongalia County Coal Mine in Greene County received notice of permanent layoff from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. The layoffs will begin in August and end in September.
The mine was owned by Murray Energy, which filed for bankruptcy in 2019. It reemerged last year as American Consolidated Natural Resources, Inc. A company spokesman said in an email the mine was permanently closing, along with a coal preparation plant and other on-site facilities.
The mine produced 4 million tons of coal in 2019, making it the fifth largest coal mine in Pennsylvania, but produced just 2 million tons last year.
Coal production in the US has been declining for years, as it has lost out to lower cost natural gas and renewables, and is now at its lowest levels since the 1970s.
