
Coal Stocks Advance: Arch, Patriot
NEW YORK (
) --
Arch Coal
(ACI) - Get Report
jumped on Wednesday trading after the coal producer came closer to ending a mountaintop mining dispute with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Arch Coal stock had gained 5%, to $25.80, in afternoon trading Wednesday. UBS has raised Arch Coal to buy from neutral.
On Tuesday, the EPA said it is negotiating changes that may allow Arch Coal to continue operating a controversial mountaintop-removal coal mine in southern West Virginia. The agency said Arch has agreed to delay action in a federal lawsuit involving the Spruce No. 1 mine until March while it tries to negotiate changes that eliminate Clean Water Act violations.
The agency announced last fall that it plans to revoke a 2007 water quality permit allowing Arch to bury intermittent streams with excess rock at the mine. While so-called valley fills are allowed by federal law, environmentalists want the practice banned.
The EPA also confirmed that it's dropped objections to the Army Corps of Engineers issuing a similar permit for
Patriot Coal's
(PCX)
proposed Hobet 45 mine in Lincoln County. The permit affects about 500 mining jobs.
Among other actions, Patriot agreed to cut the number of stream miles to be buried at Hobet, direct mine drainage away from surface water and protect highly productive streams at the site, the EPA said.
Patriot Coal stock has risen to $18.70, up 2.2%.
Other higher-trading coal stocks include the
International Coal Group
(ICO)
, up 4.2% at $4.30, and
Natural Resource Partners
(NRP) - Get Report
, up 3.4% at $26.10.
-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York
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