Aug 21, 2003 By Steve Ostrosky 4 min read

Pictured at the new Emerald mine portal dedication are (from left) President and CEO of RAG American Coal Holding Inc. James F. Roberts, general manager of RAG Emerald Resources, L.P. Douglas Conklin, president of RAG Pennsylvania Services Corp. R. Michael Mishra, acting president of UMWA Local 2258 Barry Cox and president of UMWA District No. 2 Ed Yankovich. FRANKLIN TWP. – As officials with RAG American Coal Holding officially dedicated a new $11 million portal at their Emerald mine Wednesday, company and union officials stressed the partnerships that have kept coal operators in business and local miners employed.

The new Emerald No. 8 building contains a state-of-the-art portal facility, shaft, fans with silencers, an employee bath house and offices and will help Emerald continue to mine coal safely and efficiently, according to R. Michael Mishra, president of RAG Pennsylvania Services Corp.

“Emerald will continue to play a vital role in the economy of Greene County while serving the needs of our utility customers in the highly competitive market for coal,” he said. “Emerald’s upgrades, coupled with an outstanding work force, will improve operating efficiency resulting in significant cost savings to help secure Emerald’s competitive position for many years.”

The mine has 565 employees, with more than 450 hourly workers represented by the United Mine Workers of America. Ed Yankovich, UMWA District 2 president, said mine portal openings were not celebrated three decades ago, nor did both labor and management attend them.

“Thirty years ago, we wouldn’t have thought about partnering or thought about the future of the coal industry,” he said. “The mindset has changed for all of us and we realize we depend greatly on each other for the mine’s existence and for jobs for our members.”

While the union will provide a strong workforce, Yankovich said RAG is working to ensure that the workers will have a job to come to for years ahead. He commended the coal company for making a multi-million dollar investment at Emerald and in Greene County, where many of the workers live.

He said continued working together will only lead to more progress, not only for the mine and its workers, but also for the continued infrastructure growth of Greene County.

James Roberts, CEO of RAG American Coal Holding, said the cooperation between management and labor is long overdue and will have a tremendous impact on the future of the coal industry and will benefit all coal companies in the United States.

Roberts last visited Greene County in 2002, when RAG announced a new $39 million longwall mining system at the company’s Cumberland mine. He said the coal industry is often vilified, but coal has been a staple of the nation’s electricity generation for decades and continues to be the major source of power in the country.

“The United States is the Saudi Arabia of coal,” Roberts said, noting that there are more than two centuries of mineable reserves left throughout the nation.

He said the national energy strategy should include coal because of its abundance and the fact that coal is less susceptible to price spikes similar to what has happened to natural gas rates.

Calling RAG’s Pennsylvania mines the company’s flagship facilities, Roberts said there are enough reserves to keep Emerald and Cumberland open for the next 50 years.

“For RAG to invest the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to mine these reserves and provide economic stability in the communities where we operate, we must have financially strong and competitively positioned customers, regulatory certainty with regard to environmental matters, sustained cost control and awareness by both management and labor that we are partners, not adversaries,” he said.

According to information distributed at the event, RAG’s Cumberland and Emerald mines produced 6.6 million tons of coal last year and employ more than 1,100 people.

RAG’s Pennsylvania Business Unit paid $73 million in wages and $34 million in benefits in 2002, spent $92 million in purchasing supplies and services, $11 million for power and water, $4.2 million in property and franchise taxes, and made capital investments of $68 million between both sites.

The company is considered the fourth largest U.S. coal producer and has 13 mines in the nation. In Greene County, both Cumberland and Emerald mines began operating in 1977, and RAG has owned both mines since 1999, when the company bought Cyprus Amax Coal Company.