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Who Pays?
http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2016/02/29/190566/when_coal_companies_fail_who_pays_for_the_cleanup?source=npr&category=economy
" ..... Restoring a mine to its original state is an elaborate and expensive process, one that some say makes the land better than before. The coal companies, however, often don't have to set aside money for future cleanup processes thanks to a provision called "self-bonding" — an assurance for companies to pay for reclamation based only on their financial health.
Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources, a coal company with mines in Appalachia and Wyoming, declared bankruptcy in August. Operations still continue at the company's Wyoming mines, and regulators estimate it would cost over $400 million to clean up those sites once mining is complete. But Alpha was approved to ensure its cleanup costs with self-bonds.
"A self-bond isn't much more than a wink and a promise," says Clark Williams-Derry, director of energy finance at Sightline Institute, a Seattle-based think tank that focuses on sustainability. "A promise that ... when the time comes, you'll be good for it."
But some of these companies may no longer be good for it. Federal regulations require that a company pass a test of financial strength to qualify for self-bonding, although some companies have been approved despite their questionable financial status.
In September, a second major company, Arch Coal, was reapproved to self-bond and filed for bankruptcy four months later.
"So then that raises the question, who is going to pay for cleanup? Is it going to be you and me? It is going to be the general public? Is it going to be adjacent landowners?" Williams-Derry says.
These questions extend far beyond the Powder River Basin. Three-quarters of Wyoming's cleanup costs are self-bonded. In Colorado, North Dakota, Indiana and Texas — in each state — it's more than half .......regulators might hesitate to make coal companies put real money aside for fear that the additional expense could put them out of business ..... Wyoming has over $2 billion in reclamation costs backed by self-bonds, and right now, the coal industry is showing no sign of a comeback."
" ..... Restoring a mine to its original state is an elaborate and expensive process, one that some say makes the land better than before. The coal companies, however, often don't have to set aside money for future cleanup processes thanks to a provision called "self-bonding" — an assurance for companies to pay for reclamation based only on their financial health.
Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources, a coal company with mines in Appalachia and Wyoming, declared bankruptcy in August. Operations still continue at the company's Wyoming mines, and regulators estimate it would cost over $400 million to clean up those sites once mining is complete. But Alpha was approved to ensure its cleanup costs with self-bonds.
"A self-bond isn't much more than a wink and a promise," says Clark Williams-Derry, director of energy finance at Sightline Institute, a Seattle-based think tank that focuses on sustainability. "A promise that ... when the time comes, you'll be good for it."
But some of these companies may no longer be good for it. Federal regulations require that a company pass a test of financial strength to qualify for self-bonding, although some companies have been approved despite their questionable financial status.
In September, a second major company, Arch Coal, was reapproved to self-bond and filed for bankruptcy four months later.
"So then that raises the question, who is going to pay for cleanup? Is it going to be you and me? It is going to be the general public? Is it going to be adjacent landowners?" Williams-Derry says.
These questions extend far beyond the Powder River Basin. Three-quarters of Wyoming's cleanup costs are self-bonded. In Colorado, North Dakota, Indiana and Texas — in each state — it's more than half .......regulators might hesitate to make coal companies put real money aside for fear that the additional expense could put them out of business ..... Wyoming has over $2 billion in reclamation costs backed by self-bonds, and right now, the coal industry is showing no sign of a comeback."
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