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That was after Appalachian Voices, along with Waterkeeper A l l i a n c e , K e n t u c k i a n s f o r t h e C o m m o n w e a l t h , K e n t u c k y Riverkeeper and others, claimed to have uncovered thousands of inconsistencies in water-quality reports the company was regularly required to file with the state. The groups accused t h e c o m p a n y o f d u p l i c a t i n g w a t e r p o l l u t i o n m o n i t o r i n g reports, failing to report pollution and exceeding pollution per- mit levels. Frasure Creek Mining and Trinity Coal initially denied any wrongdoing. The cabinet subsequently sued the company in Franklin County Circuit Court in Frankfort. Last year, a proposed settle- ment of $600,000 was rejected by Judge Phillip Shepherd, who said the penalty was not high enough. Pete Harrison, an attorney for Waterkeeper Alliance, said the new settlement requires Frasure Creek Mining to stay out of the coal business in Kentucky. "Unless the company's owners prove they're willing to take responsibility for the damage they've done by paying millions of dollars in additional fines, they won't be allowed to come back." The administrative order signed in early December absolved the cabinet's case against the company. The citizens groups also sued Frasure Creek Mining in federal court in eastern Kentucky over the same alleged violations, and a consent judgment with the court that incorporates the terms of the order is expected soon. Attempts to reach Frasure Creek Mining officials for com- ment were unsuccessful. The company's former office in McDowell, Kentucky, is listed as being "permanently closed." Vigo Coal Receives Approval to Continue Operation at Liberty Mine Vigo Coal Co., a small Illinois Basin steam coal producer, has received Indiana regulatory approval to extend the operation of its Liberty surface mine in Warrick County as it continues in early 2016 to hunt for sales contracts to support two new surface mines proposed for the Hoosier state. In late December, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources' Division of Reclamation approved the Evansville, Indiana-based company's permit application covering 413 acres at the mine near Lynnville. The acreage contains enough reserves of high-sulfur coal to lengthen Liberty's life by several years, according to Pete Sartoris, assistant director of the tech- nical services section for the agency. Vigo officials could not be reached for comment. U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa owns the coal reserves at Liberty and at the Friendsville surface mine in southeastern Illinois' Wabash County. Vigo produces the coal as a contract miner. All of the coal goes to a power plant that generates electricity for Alcoa's sprawling Warrick operations near Yankeetown in W a r r i c k C o u n t y . A l c o a o w n s m o s t o f t h e 7 5 5 - m e g a w a t t Warrick plant, with Evansville electric and natural gas utility Vectren Corp. controlling a small portion of the facility. Liberty, which has 63 employees, operates in the same area a s P e a b o d y C o a l C o . ' s f o r m e r S q u a w C r e e k s u r f a c e m i n e . L i b e r t y s t a r t e d u p a c o u p l e o f y e a r s a g o a f t e r o v e r c o m i n g objections from some local residents, in particular retired Squaw Creek miner Bill Musgrave, who claimed new mining could bring miners into contact with toxic wastes deposited by Alcoa years ago from its aluminum-making process. Squaw Creek operated for more than three decades before closing in 1998. V i g o , m e a n w h i l e , w o u l d l i k e t o o p e n t w o n e w s u r f a c e m i n e s , C a p t a i n D a v i e s s a n d S u n n a , i n t h e s o u t h w e s t e r n Indiana counties of Daviess and Pike, respectively. The com- pany has been trying for months to secure sales agreements f o r t h e m i n e s . E a c h w o u l d p r o d u c e a b o u t 7 5 0 , 0 0 0 t o n s o f steam coal annually. Liberty produced 959,791 tons in the first three quarters of 2015 and 1.2 million tons in 2014. Friendsville, with 53 employ- ees, is a bit smaller, turning out 687,445 tons in the first nine months of 2015 and 849,383 tons in 2014. Navajo Nation Exercises Option for Power Plant Ownership T h e N a v a j o T r a n s i t i o n a l E n e r g y C o . ( N T E C ) w i l l s o o n b e part owner in the Four Corners Power Plant, as the Navajo Nation has announced it is exercising an option for a stake in the facility. Officials said just before Christmas that it is seeking to solidify its position as a "leader in energy development in Indian coun- try" and gain more experience in energy production with its 7% interest. n e w s c o n t i n u e d 14 www.coalage.com January 2016 C A L E N D A R O F E V E N T S January 27-29, 2016: WVCA Mining Symposium, Charleston Civic Center, Charleston, West Virginia. Contact: Web: www.wvcoal.com. January 28-29, 2016: 16 th Coaltrans USA, The Four Seasons Miami, Miami, Florida. Contact: Web: www.coaltrans.com. January 31-February 3, 2016: 42 nd Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Technique, Las Vegas, Nevada. Contact: ISEE; Email: meetings@isee.org; Web: www.isee.org. February 21-24, 2016: SME Annual Conference and Expo, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Arizona. Contact: Web: www.smenet.org. March 6-9, 2016: Prospectors and Developer Annual Conference, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Contact: Web: www.pdac.ca/convention. March 21-22, 2016: 24 th Annual Coal Properties and Investment Conference, Hyatt Regency, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Contact: Platts. Email: registration@platts.com; Web: platts.com/coalproperties. March 21-24, 2016: National Western Mining Conference and Expo, Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colorado. Contact: Web: www.coloradomining.org. April 11-17, 2016: bauma, Messe Munchen, Munich, Germany. Contact: Web: www.bauma.de. April 25-27, 2016: Coal Prep 2016, Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville, Kentucky. Contact: Web: www.coalprepshow.com. May 1-4, 2016: Canadian Institute of Mining, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Contact: Web: www.cim.org. September 26-28, 2016: MINExpo INTERNATIONAL 2016, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. Contact: Web: www.minexpo.com.