February 19, 2010 Consol to lay off 157 in Clay County; 300 will keep jobs By Ken Ward Jr. Staff writer Advertiser CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- About 300 of the workers at Consol Energy's Fola Coal operations in Clay County will keep their jobs, but another 157 will be put out of work under a "restructuring plan" announced by the Pittsburgh-based company Friday evening.
The changes take effect Monday, following a weekend idling of the operations to make "workforce adjustments," including the moving of most of the mining equipment at the Fola surface operations to the Ike's Fork portions of the mine site.
"We have a plan and our tonnages have been sold, but in an effort to manage out stockpiles and to balance coal production with expected customer demand and shipping schedules, we are faced with making adjustments which, unfortunately, will impact a portion of our workforce," said Nicholas J. Deluliis, Consol's executive vice president.
In December, Consol had warned it might lay off 378 workers at Ike's Fork and another 104 at a related underground mine operated by Consol's Little Eagle Coal Co. subsidiary. The operations are all along the Clay-Nicholas county line near Bickmore.
U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers had blocked a Clean Water Act permit for Ike's Fork because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not allow public comment on a key portion of that permit.
