Mining companies owned by Justice family cite “financial struggles” as U.S. Government files for contempt

GHENT, WV ( WVNS ) — A handful of coal companies owned by the family of West Virginia Governor Jim Justice’s family are fighting a Motion for Civil Contempt filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia on August 6, 2024.

The companies owned by the family of Jim Justice reportedly owed $5,130,125.47 in MSHA civil penalties, which were imposed in 2020, according to the motion. According to this most recent filing, the companies owned by Justice claimed they did not pay their civil fines due to an “inability to pay the current amounts due” instead of just blatantly violating the court’s previous order.

Court documents stated the “inability to pay” was due to the coal companies not being financially viable due to current conditions involving the worldwide coal market and other business-related factors. The lack of financial viability made the chance of keeping up with payments an “impossibility”, according to the coal companies.

The opposition to the motion for contempt stated that the companies had paid more than $4 million in payments towards the fines, with only $579,041.53 remaining. The document continued to state that a payment of $10,000 had been made in July 2024, and that payments will continue as the companies are “financially able to do so.”

This filing comes after a Louisiana bank suing the Greenbrier Hotel Corporation for allegedly failing to repay a COVID-time loan , the Greenbrier Hotel was put up for auction due to a failed repayment on a separate loan, and also after employees at the Greenbrier received letters laying out the potential loss of their health and welfare benefits .

All of the coal companies involved as defendants in the case are listed below.

• – Southern Coal Corporation
• – A&G Coal Corporation
• – Black River Coal Corporation
• – Chestnut Land Holdings LLC
• – Double Bonus Coal Company
• – Dynamic Energy Inc.
• – Four Star Resources LLC
• – Frontier Coal Company Inc.
• – Infinity Energy Inc.
• – Justice Coal of Alabama LLC
• – Justice Energy Company Inc.
• – Justice Highwall Mining Inc.

• – Kentucky Fuel Corp.
• – Keystone Services Industries Inc.
• – M&P Services, Inc.
• – Nine Mile Mining Company, Inc.
• – Nufac Mining Company Inc.
• – Pay Car Mining Inc.
• – Premium Coal Company Inc.
• – S and H Mining, Inc.
• – Sequoia Energy, LLC
• – Tams Management, Inc.
• – Virginia Fuel Corp.

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