The company has reached settlements with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Sierra Club regarding claims under the Clean Water Act, wherein the deadline for compliance with selenium effluent limitations has now been extended from May 2013 to August 2014.
Compliance schedules under the global consent decree announced in January 2012 will also be extended by a year.
Patriot president and CEO Bennett Hatfield said that this settlement agreement allows Patriot to defer up to $27m of compliance-related cash outlays from 2012 and 2013 into 2014 and beyond, thereby enhancing liquidity.
"Importantly, this proposed settlement allows Patriot to continue mining according to existing permits and is consistent with our long-term business plan to focus capital on expanding higher-margin metallurgical coal production and limiting thermal coal investments to selective opportunities where geologic and regulatory risks are minimized," Hatfield added.
