Alpha Natural Resources Bankruptcy Plan Hits a Snag

The federal government has raised the stakes in Alpha Natural Resources’ bankruptcy reorganization by finding that Wyoming regulators failed to require adequate environmental bonding for the coal company’s two open-pit mines in the Powder River Basin. The deal violates state law by positioning Wyoming as a front-of-the-line creditor for $61 million, or 15 percent of Alpha Natural Resources’ $411 million in environmental bonding obligations in Wyoming. Alpha Natural Resources, Arch Coal and Peabody Energy, all of which are undergoing Chapter 11 reorganization, together have $2.3 billion in self-bonding obligations in Wyoming, West Virginia, Illinois, New Mexico and Indiana. Environmental groups say self-bonding puts taxpayers at risk of having to pay for mine cleanup.