Patriot Coal Provides Update Concerning Dismissal Of The Pattern Of Violations Notice At The Brody Mine

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Patriot Coal Corp. (OTC Pink: PATCA) today issued the following statement in response to Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission Administrative Law Judge William Moran's decision to dismiss the Pattern of Violations ("POV") Notice issued to its affiliate, Brody Mining, LLC ("Brody"), on October 24, 2013: 

In his November 1, 2014 decision, ALJ William Moran dismissed the POV Notice issued to Brody, ruling that MSHA failed to meet constitutionally-mandated procedural due process requirements by not identifying the specific criteria that constitute a pattern of violations.  "We are pleased that ALJ Moran agreed with Patriot's position and overturned MSHA's POV Notice," stated Michael D. Day, Executive Vice President - Operations. 

As part of the proceedings, Brody challenged the 54 citations and orders identified as the basis of the October 24, 2013 POV Notice.  Twenty-six of those issuances were resolved prior to trial.  In his decision, ALJ Moran reduced or vacated another eleven issuances designated as significant and substantial ("S&S").  In total, 25 of the citations and orders designated by MSHA as S&S in the October 24, 2013 POV Notice were subsequently reduced to non-S&S violations or vacated.   

Patriot acquired Brody effective December 31, 2012. Prior to that time, Brody was owned and operated by an independent company. Many of the issuances cited by MSHA in the POV Notice took place under Brody's prior owner.  

About Patriot Coal
Patriot Coal Corp. is a producer and marketer of coal in the eastern United States, with 10 active mining complexes in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin.  Patriot ships to domestic and international electricity generators, industrial users and metallurgical coal customers, and controls approximately 1.8 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves.

Forward-Looking Statements 
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking.  These statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that may be beyond the Company's control and may cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations.  Factors that could affect the Company's results include, but are not limited to factors detailed from time to time in the Company's reports and other information posted on its website or included in a press release.  The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. 

SOURCE Patriot Coal Corp.