Tagged: Arch Coal

Updated 4:42 p.m. with additional layoffs and information.

One of the world's largest coal producers, St. Louis-based Arch Coal, says it will lay off about 750 workers in the Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia coalfields.

It's the latest setback for an industry struggling for market share as utilities switch to cleaner and cheaper alternatives.

A subsidiary of St. Louis-based Arch Coal has submitted a successful bid of just over $300 million for the right to mine more than 200 million tons of coal in northeast Wyoming.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced the sale Wednesday, saying the bid by Ark Land Company met or exceeded fair market value for the coal.

The 222 million tons of coal sits beneath more than three square miles of land next to the lease boundary of the Black Thunder Mine in the Powder River Basin.

Updated 1:02 p.m. with company comment

Arch Coal Inc. will pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit over selenium pollution in West Virginia waterways.

The environmental groups that sued last year say the deal holds the St. Louis-based company responsible for past damage and prevents more.

Arch spokeswoman Kim Link said Monday the case involves five discharge points and subsidiaries Coal-Mac Inc. and Mingo Logan Coal Co.

She says Arch will install treatment systems and take other precautions to ensure consistent compliance with pollution limits.