American Consolidated Natural Resources

Last updated

American Consolidated Natural Resources Inc.
TypePrivate
Industry Coal mining
Founded1988;35 years ago (1988)
Headquarters St. Clairsville, Ohio
Key people
 Robert E. Murray (founder)
Products Coal
Website www.acnrinc.com

American Consolidated Natural Resources, [1] previously known as Murray Energy, is a US-based coal mining company. It is the fourth largest coal producer in the country, and the largest privately-owned coal company. [2] [lower-alpha 1] Founded in 1988 by Robert E. Murray, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2019. The company gained notoriety following the collapse of the Crandall Canyon Mine in 2007, following a number of citations and fines for safety practices at the site.

Contents

According to The Guardian , Murray Coal was responsible for 0.15% of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions from 1988 to 2015. [3]

History

Murray Energy was founded by Robert E. Murray in 1988 through the acquisition of the Powhatan No. 6 mine in Alledonia, Ohio. The company was established in nearby St. Clairsville, Ohio. [4] [5] The Powhatan mine is the only mine operated by a Murray Energy Corporation independent operating subsidiary that is unionized. [6] [7] Murray Energy Corporation produces approximately 30 million tons of bituminous coal each year and employs approximately 3,000 people in the United States. [8]

In 2013 the company acquired Consol Energy Inc, consisting of five mines and a fleet of more than 600 barges and other ships. [9]

According to the company's website, as of 2019, they employed some 7,000 workers in the US and South America. [10] The company is headquartered in St. Clairsville, Ohio. [11] It is the largest privately owned coal company in the US, and fourth largest overall, with the three larger coal companies all being publicly traded rather than privately owned. [4]

Crandall Canyon Mine collapse

In August 2007 six miners were trapped at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah, of which Murray Energy's independent operating subsidiary UtahAmerican Energy had been a part-owner for 12 months. Prior to the collapse, the Crandall Canyon Mine had received 64 violations and $12,000 in fines. [12] [13] [14] At the time, Murray Energy's owner, Robert, claimed that the safety violations were trivial and included violations such as not having enough toilet paper in the restroom. [12] However, some news agencies reported troubling violations at other Murray operations. CNN specifically cited Murray's Illinois Galatia mine, which had almost 3,500 safety citations in the prior two and a half years. [15]

On July 24, 2008, the U.S. government's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced its highest penalty for coal mine safety violations, $1.85 million, for the collapse. The government fined Genwal Resources $1.34 million "for violations that directly contributed to the deaths of six miners last year," plus nearly $300,000 for other violations. The government also levied a $220,000 fine against a mining consultant, Agapito Associates, "for faulty analysis of the mine's design." [16]

Following the Crandall Canyon tragedy, the Mine Safety and Health Administration also was faulted by its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Labor, both for lax oversight before the collapse and for its handling of a haphazard rescue effort that left three more people dead. [17] An independent review of MSHA's role in Crandall Canyon by retired MSHA managers Earnest Teaster and Joseph Pavlovich, found that the agency failed to properly consider bounce activity in the mine prior to approving the mining plan, failed to properly evaluate the roof control plan and failed to follow established mine rescue protocols at all times at Crandall Canyon Mine. Specifically, the authors wrote that, "MSHA's failure to adequately evaluate the roof control plans contributed to the August 6 accident." [18] An independent review of MSHA's actions at Crandall Canyon also faults the agency for failing to control access to the mine, concluding that "MSHA improperly allowed media representatives and family members to enter the rescue area, and allowed an unlimited number of persons underground during the rescue operation." [18]

Bankruptcy

Murray Energy announced in October 2019 that the company was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and that Robert Murray would step down as CEO, but remain with the company as chairman of their board. [4] Murray was to be replaced by his nephew Robert Moore, formerly of Murray Energy subsidiary Foresight Energy, which is not part of the bankruptcy. [4] [11] Murray Energy emerged from bankruptcy on September 16, 2020, selling almost all of its assets to a new holding company, now owned by its former creditors: American Consolidated Natural Resources Inc. [1] [19] Robert Murray was Chairman of the Board of Directors for the new company until his death in October 2020. [1]

Funding of climate change denial

The bankruptcy filing revealed that funding had been given by the company to a number of organisations that promote climate change denial. These include the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, the International Climate Science Coalition, the Heartland Institute, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. [20]

Notes

  1. ↑ The three larger coal US coal companies, Peabody Energy, Arch Coal, and Cloud Peak Energy, are all publicly traded rather than privately owned. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massey Energy</span>

Massey Energy Company was a coal extractor in the United States with substantial operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. By revenue, it was the fourth largest producer of coal in the United States and the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia. By coal production weight, it was the sixth largest producer of coal in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Blankenship</span> American businessman and politician

Donald Leon Blankenship is an American business executive and political candidate. He was chairman and CEO of the Massey Energy Company—the sixth-largest coal company in the United States—from 2000 until an explosion at one of his coal mines in 2010, costing him his position.

International Coal Group, Inc. (ICG), is a company headquartered in Teays Valley, West Virginia that was incorporated in May 2004 by WL Ross & Co for the sole purpose of acquiring certain assets of Horizon. ICG eventually operated 12 mining complexes in Northern and Central Appalachia and one complex in the Illinois Basin. In November 2005, ICG had a stock offering on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2011 ICG became a subsidiary of Arch Coal, Inc in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sago Mine disaster</span> 2006 coal mine explosion in Sago, West Virginia, USA

The Sago Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion on January 2, 2006, at the Sago Mine in Sago, West Virginia, United States, near the Upshur County seat of Buckhannon. The blast and collapse trapped 13 miners for nearly two days; only one survived. It was the worst mining disaster in the United States since the Jim Walter Resources Mine disaster in Alabama on September 23, 2001, and the worst disaster in West Virginia since the 1968 Farmington Mine disaster. It was exceeded four years later by the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster, also a coal mine explosion in West Virginia, which killed 29 miners in April 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peabody Energy</span> American coal company

Peabody Energy is a coal mining and energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Its primary business consists of the mining, sale, and distribution of coal, which is purchased for use in electricity generation and steelmaking. Peabody also markets, brokers, and trades coal through offices in China, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Aracoma Alma Mine accident occurred when a conveyor belt in the Aracoma Alma Mine No. 1 at Melville in Logan County, West Virginia, caught fire. The conveyor belt ignited on the morning of January 19, 2006, pouring smoke through the gaps in the wall and into the fresh air passageway that the miners were supposed to use for their escape, obscuring their vision and ultimately leading to the death of two of them. The two men, Ellery Hatfield, 47 and Don Bragg, 33, died of carbon monoxide poisoning when they became separated from 10 other members of their crew. The others held hands and edged through the air intake amid dense smoke.

The Crandall Canyon Mine, formerly Genwal Mine, was an underground bituminous coal mine in northwestern Emery County, Utah.

UtahAmerican Energy, Inc., is a Bituminous coal underground coal mine and lignite surface mining company, headquartered in Sandy, Utah. UtahAmerican is a subsidiary of Cleveland, Ohio based Murray Energy Corporation. UtahAmerican is a company with approximately $65.1 million (USD) in annual sales, and 428 employees and was started in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utah State Route 31</span>

State Route 31 (SR-31) is a state highway in Sanpete and Emery Counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It runs for 47.746 miles (76.840 km) from US-89 at Fairview to SR-10 in Huntington. The highway has been designated as part of The Energy Loop, a National Scenic Byway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Retreat mining</span>

Retreat mining is the removal of pillars in the underground mining technique known as room and pillar mining.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert E. Murray</span> American mining businessman (1940–2020)

Robert Edward Murray was an American mining engineer and businessman. He founded and was the chief executive officer of Murray Energy, a mining corporation based in St. Clairsville, Ohio, until it filed for bankruptcy. Murray was criticized for his denial of climate change, his actions following the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse, and for several large SLAPP suits he initiated. Multiple allegations of sexual misconduct were brought against him in 2014 and 2016, which were later settled out of court.

A coal mine bump is a seismic jolt occurring within an underground mine due to the explosive collapse of one or more support pillars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Stickler</span>

Richard E. Stickler served as acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) between October 16, 2006 and October 21, 2009.

Mine Safety and Health News is the only credentialed, independent reporting service in the U.S. covering the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. It is not affiliated with any mining organization, lobbying group, policy group, labor or political organization, or mining company. It does not accept advertising and is strictly a subscription-based news and research publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coal mining in the United States</span>

Coal mining is an industry in transition in the United States. Production in 2019 was down 40% from the peak production of 1,171.8 million short tons in 2008. Employment of 43,000 coal miners is down from a peak of 883,000 in 1923. Generation of electricity is the largest user of coal, being used to produce 50% of electric power in 2005 and 27% in 2018. The U.S. is a net exporter of coal. U.S. coal exports, for which Europe is the largest customer, peaked in 2012. In 2015, the U.S. exported 7.0 percent of mined coal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Mine Map Repository</span>

The National Mine Map Repository (NMMR) is part of the United States Department of the Interior (DOI), Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. The NMMR resides in the Pittsburgh suburb of Green Tree, Pennsylvania, and collects and maintains mine map information and images for the entire country, including data and maps of coal mines in the anthracite coal region of northeastern Pennsylvania. The Green Tree facility provides and stores, digitally and in microfilm, over 182,000 maps of abandoned mines. This repository contains maps of mine workings from the 1790s to the present day. It serves as a point of reference for mine maps and other information for both surface and underground mines throughout the United States. It also serves as a location to retrieve mine maps in an emergency. The NMMR provides services ranging from retrieving mine related data for economic analysis to assessing the potential risk associated with underground mining. Through analysis of mine maps and related information, the repository assists private and public sectors in industrial and commercial development, highway construction, and the preservation of public health, safety, and welfare. In addition, they collect, reproduce, and maintain a national inventory of mine maps and supporting documentation for private and public interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Main</span>

Joe Main is an American government official who formerly served as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health and head of the United States Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration. He was nominated to serve the position by Barack Obama and took office after being confirmed by the United States Senate on October 21, 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Big Branch Mine disaster</span> 2010 coal mine explosion in Montcoal, West Virginia, USA

The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5, 2010 roughly 1,000 feet (300 m) underground in Raleigh County, West Virginia at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine located in Montcoal. Twenty-nine out of thirty-one miners at the site were killed. The coal dust explosion occurred at 3:27 pm. The accident was the worst in the United States since 1970, when 38 miners were killed at Finley Coal Company's No. 15 and 16 mines in Hyden, Kentucky. A state funded independent investigation later found Massey Energy directly responsible for the blast.

Alpha Natural Resources is a large American producer of metallurgical coal for the industrial production of steel and iron and low-sulfur thermal coal to fuel steam boilers for the production of electrical power. In November, 2018 the company was acquired by Contura Energy. The company also provides industry services relating to equipment repairs, road construction and logistics, with domestic operations and coal reserves within the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Wyoming, Utah, Illinois, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. Alpha Natural Resources does not produce all of the coal it sells; much of the coal sold by Alpha Natural Resources is purchased from independent mining operations and then resold in the worldwide market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SLAPP Suits</span> Segment from the American television program "Last Week Tonight"

"SLAPP Suits" is a segment of HBO's news-satire television series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, focusing on strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP). It first aired on November 10, 2019, as part of the twenty-ninth episode of the series's sixth season. The episode marked British-American comedian and host John Oliver's response to winning a SLAPP defamation lawsuit against him initiated by American mining businessman Robert E. Murray. The lawsuit began in 2017, after Oliver heavily criticized Murray and his company, Murray Energy, in a segment concerning the coal-mining industry in the United States. Murray claimed in his lawsuit that Oliver had carried out a character assassination against him, but the case was dismissed in under a year, and an appeal by Murray Energy was unsuccessful. During the lawsuit, the American Civil Liberties Union filed an amicus brief that was widely covered due to its sarcastic humor.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Former coal CEO Robert Murray files for black lung benefits". ABC News . The Walt Disney Company. Associated Press. October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Swart, Broghan (November 8, 2019). "Is Murray Energy the nation's largest coal company?". PolitiFact . Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Guardian: Top 100 producers and their cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from 1988-2015". The Guardian . Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Telford, Taylor; Grandoni, Dino (October 29, 2019). "Murray Energy files for bankruptcy as coal's role in U.S. power dwindles". The Washington Post . Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  5. ↑ Stevens, Pippa. "Murray Energy joins growing list of coal companies to declare bankruptcy". CNBC. Retrieved November 12, 2019. Robert Murray began working in coal mines at 16. He went on to found the St. Clairsville, Ohio-based company in 1988 and grew the company through a series of acquisitions.
  6. ↑ Junkins, Casey (August 23, 2017). "Murray Energy Powhatan No. 6 Mine Officially Closed Near Beallsville". Wheeling News-Register. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Murray Energy Powhatan No. 6 Mine Closing". Coal Age. May 4, 2016. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017. The mine closed in 2016.
  8. ↑ Egan, Matt (August 22, 2017). "Trump rejects cry for help from coal execs". CNN Money. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Consol selling West Virginia coal mines to Murray Energy". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The Associated Press . October 28, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Company Overview". Murray Energy. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  11. 1 2 Brady, Jeff (October 29, 2019). "Major Coal Producer And Trump Booster Files For Bankruptcy". NPR . Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  12. 1 2 Gehrke, Robert (Aug. 8, 2007). "Murray's meltdown: Angry, rambling briefing draws rebukes" Archived November 12, 2019, at the Wayback Machine . The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved on August 14, 2007.
  13. ↑ "Murray's Illinois mine has 2,787 violations since 2005" Archived 2007-10-11 at the Wayback Machine . The Salt Lake Tribune . Retrieved on August 10, 2007.
  14. ↑ Goldman, Russell (Aug. 8, 2007). "Mine Owner Faces Old Foes After Collapse". ABC News. Retrieved on August 10, 2007.
  15. ↑ "CNN Delves Into Robert Murray's Safety Record...17 Days Later ". The Huffington Post. Retrieved on August 30, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Feds blame mine operator for fatal collapse". CNN . July 24, 2008.
  17. ↑ Year after mine collapse, many failures clear, Associated Press, Aug. 6, 2008, Retrieved 2008-08-06
  18. 1 2 Teaster, E., Palovich, J., (July, 2008) Independent review of MSHA's actions at Crandall Canyon Mine; U.S. Department of Labor
  19. ↑ "MURRAY ENERGY EMERGES FROM BANKRUPTCY AS AMERICAN CONSOLIDATED NATURAL RESOURCES". Coal Age. Steve Fiscor. September 17, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  20. ↑ Friedman, Lisa (December 17, 2019). "A Coal Baron Funded Climate Denial as His Company Spiraled Into Bankruptcy". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.