Consolidated Coal to cut production at Rend Lake, other mines

SESSER, Ill. (AP) -- Officials from the Rend Lake coal mine near this southern Illinois town said Monday they will cut production in the months ahead, either by trimming the hours the mine operates or temporarily idling it.

Whichever decision Pittsburgh-based Consol Energy Inc. makes will affect the jobs of 245 miners in one of the state's poorest areas.

"We could reduce working shifts per day or cut out weekends," Consol spokesman Thomas Hoffman said Monday. "We could go from (operating) five days a week to four, or idle the mine for a certain period. We haven't decided yet."

The company said last Wednesday that production would be cut by a total of 5 million to 7 million tons this year at Rend Lake and six other mines in Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia because of a drop in demand caused by mild winter temperatures.

The company also said it will permanently close four of its mines by the end of the year in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.

The Rend Lake mine produced almost 2 million tons of coal last year.

Chuck Wilson, president of the United Mine Workers of America at Rend Lake, said company officials told miners over the weekend that the mine would be idled in the middle of July, with a small maintenance staff remaining in case the order comes to start again.

"We were told the decision has been made," Wilson said.

The Rend Lake mine is in Franklin County in far southern Illinois, the heart of the state's coal country where jobless rates are among the highest in the state.

Wilson said Rend Lake's miners are trying to concentrate on their jobs, but worry about their futures at the same time.

"I tell them that naturally they'd be more likely to want to reopen us if we keep performing well," he said. "You've got to keep your mind on your work."