Bens Creek working to recover from Appalachia flooding

Coal mine owner Bens Creek updated the market on its infrastructure on Tuesday, following severe flooding in the western part of West Virginia and in Eastern Kentucky since 27 July.

The AIM-traded firm said the Appalachian region had experienced severe levels of rainfall and flooding “not seen for decades”, causing downed trees, power outages, disruption to the water system and road blockages.

A state of emergency was declared in certain areas, while several deaths were reported in Eastern Kentucky.

The company said the areas adjacent to its infrastructure in West Virginia which had been affected were Mingo County and Logan.

Bens Creek said the “vast majority” of its infrastructure was unaffected by the weather other than the railway system, which did suffer some damage to railway ties along with the volume of water washing away ballast along several sections of the line.

However, the railway track itself did not suffer any damage.

The company also reported that it was able to source replacement ballast to ensure the material washed away was replaced ahead of the imminent arrival of trains from Norfolk Southern.

It said the repairs to the railway were complete, and passed an inspection by the rail operator on 1 August.

With the imminent arrival of a train scheduled for this week, the board said it was important to ensure the track was fully functional.

As a result, the scheduling of the train for arrival at the Bens Creek site this week was expected to be unaffected.

The severe flooding had affected the logistical supply and transportation of metallurgical coal from West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky to the various ports linking to the Norfolk Southern railway system.

Bens Creek said that resulted in Norfolk Southern agreeing to supply three trains to the Bens Creek site over the next seven days, to meet the backlog in supply.

“Firstly, I need to thank each and every member of our team, who worked tirelessly round the clock from Wednesday night, often through the night on multiple nights in succession in very difficult conditions, both to allow the huge levels of water to flow down the Bens Creek mountain and into the Tug river, with minimal damage to property, and then to work around the clock again repairing the damage to our railway line so that we are able to accommodate additional trains into the Bens Creek site to help the logistical difficulties caused in the region,” said chief executive officer Adam Wilson.

“It is normal for the CEO to thank his staff, but on this occasion, my staff went over and above what could have been expected, as well as maintaining and protecting the assets of the company for the benefit of all shareholders.

“The staff at Bens Creek have also been active in the community trying to help where possible and to minimise any further damage and to prevent the loss of life.”

At 1335 BST, shares in Bens Creek Group were up 7.95% at 39.4p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.