CNX Coal Resources is seeking three permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for longwall panels and development mining as part of the continuing mine plan for its Bailey underground thermal coal operations in Greene County, a company spokesman said Tuesday.
Zach Smith said in an interview the company, a spinoff from Consol Energy, has filed for one permit for a new longwall panel and two permits for development mining over the next several years.
In all, the permits total 9,527 acres, according to the DEP.
The agency conducted a hearing last week on a longwall mining permit covering 2,142 acres. On July 19, the DEP has scheduled an informal public conference in Wind Ridge, Pennsylvania, on a development mining permit request representing 4,875 acres. A third application is for 2,510 acres.
Smith said the company does not expect to receive any of the permits this year. Most likely, it will be sometime in 2018 before they are issued. A DEP spokeswoman could not predict when the agency will make final decisions.
Essentially, the permits will allow for the extension of coal production at the Bailey complex, one of the largest thermal coal operations in the US. According to Smith, there is no current indication that production will increase at Bailey once the three permits are issued.
Bailey produced just over 3 million st of coal in the first quarter of 2017, US Mine Safety and Health Administration figures show, and about 12 million st in 2016. Bailey is part of a three-mine complex in Greene and Washington counties that also includes the Enlow Fork and Harvey underground mines and a centralized coal processing facility.
