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Kentucky Kerry Harvey said. "Such conduct undermines the pub- lic's faith in our institutions of government and makes the job harder for the vast majority of public officials who honorably dis- charge their duties on behalf of the public they serve." If convicted, the bribery charges carry a maximum prison sen- tence of 10 years; the extortion charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison; and lying to a federal agent carries a maximum of 5 years in prison. An arraignment date for both Hall and Shortridge was set for November 5 in Pikeville. Westmoreland, FMC Extend Supply Deal Westmoreland Coal, via its Westmoreland Kemmerer arm in Wyoming, has signed off on a long-term extension to its coal supply agreement with FMC Corp. The company said November 5 that the new deal, which pro- vides coal from the Kemmerer complex for FMC's Westvaco and Granger operations, replaces two existing contracts that had been scheduled to terminate in 2016 and 2021. Both agreements now expire in 2026. "Westmoreland views FMC as a key partner at our Kemmerer mine," Chief Executive Officer Keith Alessi said. "The contract extension provides Westmoreland an additional long-term corner- stone industrial customer at our Kemmerer mine and we antici- pate a continuing positive partnership." Westmoreland Coal owns both sub-bituminous and lignite properties and is the oldest independent coal company in the U.S. Cabot Opens Texas Lignite Mine Boston-based Cabot Corp. has officially opened a new lignite coal operation in Texas that will feed its neighboring activated carbon manufacturing facility for as long as 50 years. The surface mine, dedicated November 3, will be operated by North American Coal Corp., a subsidiary of Caddo Creek Resources. It was operational November 1 and is expected to pro- duce lignite by the end of the year. It did not disclose the mine's prime production goals. The mine is part of Cabot's strategic plan to assure long-term sup- ply of high-quality activated carbon for the anticipated quadrupling of demand by coal-fired utilities, officials said. In preparation for operations, the company obtained an 8-million-lb dragline to provide an economic advantage over the traditional truck and shovel. Patrick Prevost, president and CEO of Cabot, called the mine opening a significant milestone. "We see this as not only a great opportunity for Cabot, but also an opportunity for regional development," he said. "We have uti- lized lignite coal to produce our high-quality activated carbon since 1921. With this latest strategic investment, we are able to provide our customers with a strong assurance that we can supply our own raw materials and further ensure that we can provide superior, consistent and reliable solutions to meet our customers' purification needs. The mine affords us unparalleled supply chain security and further extends our leadership position in the mer- cury emission control segment." As a leading supplier of activated carbon, Cabot said it is well positioned to be a strategic partner to coal-fired power plant own- ers and operators in mercury emission control both now and in the future. Cabot is the only activated carbon manufacturer with multiple manufacturing sites dedicated to the application in North America. "This operation will provide a long-term, reliable supply of high-quality lignite coal for Cabot to produce the finest activated carbon products," said Bob Benson, president and CEO of North American Coal. Planned Tennessee Mine Green-lighted Federal officials and state regulators in Tennessee have reportedly given the go-ahead to the planned Liberty underground operation near Dayton, Rhea County. Iron Properties told the Associated Press that work at the larger of its two sites in eastern Tennessee, the 127-acre Liberty property, could come online by 2017. The company projects a payroll of around 100 individuals. According to company official Dave Fortner, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits were issued by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) on October 8 for both the Liberty mine and neighboring sister operation the Security mine. However, he noted to the AP that federal permitting from the Office of Surface Mining is still being sought for Security, regulato- ry agencies have found that the miner's plans for Liberty meet environmental requirements. According to documents submitted on the progress of the pro- ject, the Liberty mine — to be situated between 600 and 1,000 ft underground — is expected to have a seven-year lifespan and pro- duce about 400,000 tons of coal annually, or 2.8 million tons total. Fortner told the AP that, despite the current down market glob- ally, Iron Properties is hoping for future improvements as it read- ies the first of the two operations and is flexible with the planned opening timeframe. "If the economy changes for coal, that can be accelerated a lit- tle bit…but the earliest we could be mining would be about two years," he said. STB Orders BNSF to Disclose Coal Service Recovery Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway officials have been ordered by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) to make public their coal-specific service recovery plan for Powder River Basin customers available after a Western Coal Traffic League request. "BNSF-served members will have little or no opportunity to rebuild stockpiles given current service levels," the league petition stated. Fort Worth-based BNSF officials, for their part, countered that "significant" velocity enhancement is under way, according to Platts; further disclosure, they added, would be "interfering with efficient resources." Utility coal stockpiles in the U.S. are down 23% from 2013, reported analysts, much owing to complications from Powder River Basin rail delivery, served by BNSF and Union Pacific, due to weather impacts. To date, BNSF has invested $1 billion in expan- sion, maintenance and the formation of rapid response teams, said company representatives. Bowie Cuts Production, Furloughs 150 Bowie Resource Partners (BRP) arm Bowie Resources will reduce production at its Bowie No. 2 operation in Colorado and lay off 150 n e w s c o n t i n u e d November 2014 www.coalage.com 17