Bloomberg reported that Patriot Coal Corp seeks relief from the usual bankruptcy rules to change environmental compliance deadlines it says will otherwise cost it USD 29 million in the near future.

If it can win an extension, Patriot and its subsidiaries “could defer up to USD 29 million in costs through the end of 2013, thereby providing clear tangible benefits” as the company works to reorganize, lawyers for Patriot wrote.

Two of Patriot’s subsidiaries have been sued in West Virginia District Court, where orders have demanded they comply with certain deadlines to deal with pollution from selenium. The company said in court papers filed September 28 that it needs to lift the so called “automatic stay” that prevents bankruptcy companies from continuing lawsuits so it can seek a change to the deadlines.

Lawsuits over the company’s selenium pollution date back to 2006, and the company has been sued by organizations including the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, the Sierra Club and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy Inc., according to court papers. Most of the litigation is about the surface mining activities of its Apogee, Catenary and Hobet units, which mined coal in the 1980s and 90s before selenium pollution was a water quality issue, Patriot said.
Venue Request

Source - Bloomberg

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