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news continued "not in excess of the damages sought by the United States." DoJ has not cited a monetary amount either. DoJ responded to Buckingham's counterclaim by saying the com- pany has conceded "that the only potential basis for subject-matter jurisdiction over its counterclaim is the equitable doctrine of recoup- ment." However, the government maintained, Buckingham's claim for alleged tortious interference with contracts "is not a compulsory coun- terclaim because it is premised on different contracts than are at issue" in the pending complaint, and the company "seeks relief of a different kind or nature than the United States claims." Because Buckingham's counterclaim "does not fall within the narrow doctrine of equitable recoupment, this court lacks the subject-matter jurisdiction over the counterclaim and it should be dismissed," DoJ concluded. An order on the counterclaim could come before the end of the year. Retired Patriot Miners Sue Peabody & Arch On October 24, eight retired coal miners and the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) filed suit against both Peabody Energy and Arch Coal contending that the two companies, largely parent companies to the now bankrupt Patriot Coal, have obliga- tions to pay pension and health care benefits to thousands of retired Patriot coal miners and many active workers. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in West Virginia where the UMWA is seeking to have the Patriot bankruptcy cased moved to as well. Created in 2007 after spinning off from Peabody and Arch, roughly 10,000 union members saw their benefits transferred over to the new Patriot Coal Co. While many of these workers actually mined coal for the new company, many, already retired, simply had their benefits shifted to it. Now the UMWA fears Patriot will try to take advantage of increasingly lax corporate bankruptcy laws that allow failed companies to shed retiree health care and pensions. According to Reuters, in court papers related to its bankruptcy filing, Patriot said its current retiree obligations are % 2012 A W ARDS Alpha Affiliated Mine Rescue Teams Take Top Honors at Nationwide Mine Rescue Skills Contest Alpha Natural Resources announced its affili- ated mine rescue teams swept the top spots in the overall experienced teams' competition at the Nationwide Mine Rescue Skills Contest, which is sponsored by the West Virginia Mine Rescue Alliance and is held biennially in even- numbered years. The event was held October 2- 5 in Beckley, W.Va. Twenty-three teams participated in the competition: eight in Division-1 for teams with less than three years of experience and 15 teams in Division-2 for experienced teams. Alpha-affiliated teams took the top spots in several categories in the experienced teams' competition. Below are the highlights of the contest for teams sponsored by Alpha affiliates: 18 www.coalage.com Division 2 - Overall Winners • First Place: Kingston White • Second Place: Rockspring Gold • Third Place: Brooks Run South Division 2 - Individual Blocks: • Mine Rescue Field Problem ° First Place - Brooks Run South • First Aid/ Bench/ Gas Test/ Written Exam ° First Place - Kingston White • Smoke Problem/ Firefighting ° First Place - Kingston White "This was a very successful effort for our affili- ated mine rescue teams in the most important event of the year," said Rob Asbury, Alpha's mine rescue coordinator. "They were put to the test against other elite competitors, but our teams work hard year round preparing for any Alpha Natural Resources' Kingston White team wins at the Nationwide Mine Rescue Skills Contest. (Photo courtesy of Alpha Natural Resources) possible situation. We congratulate them on a job well done." November 2012 untenable. With Patriot now in bankruptcy, the union is deter- mined to ensure the benefits by going after Peabody and Arch. In an interview with Reuters, Arthur Traynor, a UMWA lawyer, said the goal "is not to get money out of Patriot. "We're going to go back and talk to the people who are responsible, who made these gentle- men the promise of health care, and that's Peabody and Arch. Peabody and Arch, apparently, don't want to pay that," he said. A spokesman for Peabody said Patriot was a "completely viable" company when it was spun off and that its downfall resulted from other forces. "Patriot's decisions to make significant changes in its capital structure (and) decreased demand for U.S. coal due to sharp declines in natural gas prices" contributed to Patriot's decline, spokesman Vic Svec said. Svec recently said that a Peabody sub- sidiary still pays about $600 million in Patriot retiree health care obligations that it retained at the time of the spinoff. Montana Supreme Court OKs Coal Lease The Montana Supreme Court recently affirmed a lower court ruling that the Montana Land Board did not violate the state Constitution when it leased for coal production state lands located in the Otter Creek drainage to Arch Coal Inc. in 2010 without an environmental review, according to the National Mining Association (NMA). The suit was brought by the Sierra Club and other groups. Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike McGrath wrote in the unanimous opinion that the law exempting the Land Board from requiring an environmental review at the time of the lease was approved was con- stitutional provided the lease was subject to permitting requirements later in the process. He wrote, "Because the leases themselves do not allow for any degradation of the environment, conferring only the exclusive right to apply for State permits, and because they specifically require full environmental review and full compliance with applicable State environmental laws, the act of issuing the leases did not impact or implicate the right to a clean and healthful environment in Article II, Section 3 of the Montana Constitution."