One of Appalachia's biggest coal companies is getting out of the mountaintop removal business. In a landmark announcement, Patriot Coal, one of Appalachia's three largest mountaintop removal companies, has signed a settlement agreement with the Sierra Club, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, and West Virginia Highlands Conservancy committing to end its practice of large scale surface mining in Appalachia, and to retire much of its mountaintop removal equipment, including two massive mining machines called draglines. The conservation groups were represented in the negotiations by Joe Lovett of Appalachian Mountain Advocates.
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