Tunnel Ridge underground coal mine occupies an area of 38 km2 in Wheeling, West Virginia. Tunnel Ridge, LLC, a subsidiary of Alliance Resource Partners LP operates the Tunnel Ridge Mine. The mine’s construction began in 2008, development mining began in 2010, and longwall mining operations in May 2012. It operates under the MSHA ID: 4608864 and employs an average of 880 people.
The Tunnel Ridge mine is located on the Appalachian Plateau in northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. The mine’s cover depth varies depending on where the seam lies, ranging between 300 feet and over 950 feet. The economic coal-bearing strata is the Pittsburgh No. 8 seam which varies in thickness. The seam has a main bench, a variably thick parting, and an inferior quality rider coal (high ash and high sulfur). The thickness of the Pittsburgh No. 8 seam is about 7.2 feet, including the parting and upper bench. The coal thickness ranges from about 3 feet to over 7 feet including the rider. The main bench is about 5.0 feet thick while the claystone parting and upper bench/rider thickness is below two feet. Depending on the thickness, the rider is either left for roof coal or mined with the rest of the seam.
The mine produces bituminous coal whose average quality on a 1.50 float, dry basis is about 8.16% ash, 3.35% sulfur, and 13,672 btu/lb. The Tunnel Ridge mine utilizes the longwall mining technique and the preparation plant has a capacity of 2,000 tons of raw coal per hour. The mine produced 7.7 million tons of coal in 2023 and had a depth of 213m.
The Tunnel Ridge mine’s three barge loading silos are located in West Virginia along Route 2, while the mine shaft and administrative offices are located on Battle Run Road. Coal produced is transported by conveyor belt to a barge loading facility on the Ohio River. It is then transferred from the barges to the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway (connected to CSX and the NS railroads) for shipping.
Tunnel Ridge LLC owns 9400 acres of coal in Ohio County, West Virginia, and Washington County, Pennsylvania. As of 2024, Tunnel Ridge has access to approximately 22,345 underground acres of coal through fee ownership and leases. In 2018, Tunnel Ridge LLC acquired a permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to expand the underground mining area from 1,206 acres to 3,128 acres. The permit involved a subsidence control plan in Donegal and West Finley Townships, Washington County, PA from development mining, to full extraction longwall mining. The company can now operate across the West Virginia and Pennsylvania state lines. As of December 2019, the mine had 71.6 Million tons of mineable coal reserves.
File a black lung claim
Coal miners are exposed to harmful coal dust which increases the risk of developing respiratory illnesses, known as black lung disease or coal workers pneumoconiosis (CWP). Other illnesses associated with coal mining include COPD, emphysema, silicosis, and bronchitis.
Coal miners who were totally disabled by Black Lung disease and their survivors can file for black lung benefits. These benefits are filed through the US Department of Labor’s (USDOL) Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP) Division of Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation (DCMWC). Black Lung Benefits include monthly payments and medical benefits. Mining companies and insurers pay these benefits, as well as legal fees for lawyers representing eligible miners whose claims are successful.
Are you or a loved one affected by black lung disease? Did you work as a miner at Enlow Fork Mine? Contact Black lung attorney Hugh Stephens to help you file a claim for benefits or assist you through the black lung claim process.